Scan barcode
darlingmoira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book is talked about as an enemies to lovers but once again hugely misses the mark! The “enemies” part relies on the main character being openly racist to her counterpart. For the majority of the book she talks and thinks about how her soon to be lover shouldn’t even be allowed to study at her school.
The plot could have been really well done if it removed that aspect of the story completely.
I have to acknowledge that the “feminist” aspects of this story are well done. How the main character handles a SA situation internally and then makes progress with dealing with it is portrayed very realistically. Everything about that part of the story is well done but otherwise book would have just been a 2 and nothing more.
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia
jo_bee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The book begins a little awkward and it feels like one chapter is skipped entirely, there is a strange time jump between Effy getting a task and then being accepted right next chapter, where I would have liked to see her thought and work process, especially since it is something so personal to her. The big reveal was obvious to me in the first half, which made it a little frustrating that it drags on until the very end, especially since the two main characters are supposed to be two smart and well-read people.
At its very core it is a story about a girl finding the strength to realize how she has been wronged and how she can move on from that, dressed up in a mysterious fairytale setting, which made for a quick and enjoyable read.
Graphic: Sexual assault and Misogyny
Moderate: Mental illness, Ableism, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
purplesapphire's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Moderate: Misogyny and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement and Emotional abuse
hann_smc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
To start, I really did love the prose and the vibes. It was beautifully written, and the descriptions were poetic. It felt like the setting itself was another character.
It was pieces of the plot that I had more trouble with. Not even plot holes, just like "oh, that's it?" moments.
Reid really did a great job setting up for a fantastic story. I think the initial plot line of
But then, nothing else really happened. There were some super interesting side plot setups:
I did like that for awhile we're really not sure if Effy is crazy like everyone thinks or if the Fairy King is real, because even she isn't sure.
Some questions I do still have that people might be able to answer for me:
1.
2.
3.
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Mental illness, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Classism
daydreaminlilac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse
becalexa's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death of parent
girlgetsbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
However, I think this book could've been an adult novel. I know this is Ava's debut in the young adult genre, and she often writes very dark and intense adult fantasies that explore similar themes to this one but in a more brutal and raw way. I think this book is actually pretty dark for a young adult. At times, it was very hard to read because of how real the things Effy was experiencing are; in fact, as a woman in the arts and in academia, I was literally living a much lighter version of what she experienced as I was reading it.
Being in her head, a girl so traumatized, anxious, and constantly doubting herself and making herself smaller because of all the lies she's been told about herself, was a very intense experience, and it truly felt like I was drowning alongside her. The prose, the themes, and the plot were all there to make this an adult novel.
If only the romance was a bit less present, because though I loved the lightness and hopefulness it brought to the book, it also was what slowed down the plot and took me out of the story sometimes, especially towards the end when I really just wanted closure and more information on the main plot, but the whole time it was focusing on the romance and not the main themes of the book.
In the end, I think it was an almost perfect book; those things I pointed out were not bad by any means. This is still better than more than 60% of the books I read since last year. I just wanted to point out some aspects that contributed to my rating not being 5 stars. One last thing I have to say is that I loved the plot twist even though I predicted it. That didn't stop me from respecting and liking it since it brings to light such an important message.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse
saramcaps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The book’s strength is in its incredible dark academia, Welsh mythology-inspired setting. But, it’s too complex in some ways and leaves thematic questions unanswered in the chaos of wrapping up the plot. I wish it were 100 pages longer!
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Emotional abuse
student/teacher age gap abuse and groominghello_kara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
“Midnight was a fairytale thing. She didn’t know if Preston had been thinking about that when he promised it. But Effy was remembering all of the curses that turned princesses back to peasant girls as soon as the bells struck twelve. Why was it always girls whose forms could not be trusted? Everything could be taken away from them in an instant.”
“I suppose that’s partly why I don’t have much faith in the notion of permanence. Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn’t guaranteed. You can lose that too, slowly, like water eating away at stone.”
I liked those quotes, that’s about it.
World building was a bit confusing, and it was difficult for me to pin down a time-setting. Advertised as “Part historical fantasy, part rivals-to-lovers romance, part Gothic mystery.” It’s set in a fantasy UK inspired world, maybe from the 60s? 🤷🏼♀️ There’s trains, cars, universities, tanks and guns, CT scanners, phones, but also folk magic and changelings. Their country in the South is at war with the one in the North, for unknown reasons. Universities admit women, but they really only go to get husbands and aren’t allowed entry into the one discipline reversed above all others that Effy actually wants to study: Literature. Her scores were so good she should have gotten in, but because of misogyny she wasn’t admitted. She goes and studies Architecture instead (apparently the second most prestigious discipline.) As it so happens she is the ONLY woman in that college.
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Mental illness, Abandonment, Death, Classism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
kmf0023's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Emotional abuse