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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Medical content, War, Child death, Alcoholism, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality, Child abuse, Infertility, Vomit, Sexual content, and Fatphobia
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
When I was reading the first few chapters of this book, I thought I would like it a lot. The setup and worldbuilding were compeling.
However, by the end, I felt it was too tropey, too focused on romance, and relied too much on deus ex machina
However, by the end, I felt it was too tropey, too focused on romance, and relied too much on deus ex machina
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, and Child death
Moderate: War, Torture, Racism, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This is a wonderful science fiction book with Demisexual and Panromantic rep that I loved!
Post-alien-invasion, one girl teams up with an unlikely alien ally to try and save the world from complete colonization.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book and the romance was sweet. There were parts that felt like they dragged a little to me, so I feel like the pacing might have been a bit off. Overall I enjoyed it a lot!
Post-alien-invasion, one girl teams up with an unlikely alien ally to try and save the world from complete colonization.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book and the romance was sweet. There were parts that felt like they dragged a little to me, so I feel like the pacing might have been a bit off. Overall I enjoyed it a lot!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Two years after the invasion and near-total genocide of humanity, and alien and a human bond over the power of music and a love of stories while they try to save the people who are left.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Vomit
TW for Harry Potter reference (pages 68, 179, 363, 409, 425).lanidon's review against another edition
2.0
I don't think this is a bad book, I think I just have personally outgrown YA. I DNF'd about halfway through.
My two main reasons for not loving this book are 1) the hamfisted wokeness of it that is really surface level and not at all nuanced 2) the fact that I feel I've seen this plot done better elsewhere
Neither of these things should be a knock against the author because this is YA and I haven't read another YA like it, I merely have adult books I prefer to this
Please note this is an INCREDIBLY dark book that has on the page death, check the content warnings before reading
My two main reasons for not loving this book are 1) the hamfisted wokeness of it that is really surface level and not at all nuanced 2) the fact that I feel I've seen this plot done better elsewhere
Neither of these things should be a knock against the author because this is YA and I haven't read another YA like it, I merely have adult books I prefer to this
Please note this is an INCREDIBLY dark book that has on the page death, check the content warnings before reading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, and Genocide
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