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tinysierra's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Book 10 for the
#TransRightsReadathon2024
CW: Wyatt is a vomiter
Graphic: Body horror, Stalking, Vomit, Classism, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, Infertility, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Gore, War, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racial slurs and Drug use
buttermellow'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Bullying
Moderate: Colonisation, Infertility, Physical abuse, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Deadnaming and Death
demawenda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Bullying, Deadnaming, Rape, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
discarded_dust_jacket's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The queer representation was good. I empathized with Wyatt—his self-loathing, his anger, his tendency to lash out instead of facing his emotions, and his selfishness—even when he frustrated me SO MUCH.
I did like a lot of the secondary characters as well, but overall it seemed like the author was so focused on examining Wyatt’s internal struggles that not enough focus was spent on making any of the other characters very nuanced or multi-dimensional. (Tessa’s arc is, I think, meant to involve growth and development, but it comes across more as a clumsy and sudden about face.)
I also didn’t think the author did a good enough job of making us understand why Emyr found a marriage to Wyatt so necessary that he was willing to force him into it under penalty of death. It just didn’t feel fleshed out enough to read as believable, which gave the entire premise of the story a sort-of unmoored quality. (Maybe multiple POVs would have helped here?)
Plus I felt like a lot of the plot development got squished into the last 20% or so of the book, making it read very much like an attempt to quickly tie up lose ends and insert twists where they didn’t feel necessarily natural just to set up the events of the second book. (The big “aha!” moment at the end when the villain is confronted felt very similar to the end of a Scooby-Doo episode: “and I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”)
Finally, a lot about the way witches in this story are born to (and subsequently rejected by) Fae families seemed to be an allegory for the queer experience, especially when at one point, that similarity is explicitly pointed out on page by Wyatt.
You have the Fae (conservative) businesses refusing service to the witches, then the guard (police) siding with the Fae when they protest/incite violence against witches using language most readers would immediately associate with white supremacists.
But at the same time, this allegory breaks apart when you consider this magical realm is also supposed to exist WITHIN the current, human world (and that there also exist Fae queer people). If an allegory is meant to be a fictional representation of a real-world people, institution, or concept, how can that allegory exist in a fictional story where the very real thing it’s meant to be representing ALSO exists? So maybe it’s not meant to be allegory at all, I don’t know, but I found my confusion over it very distracting as I was reading.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Infertility
stormeno's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
hilmi'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
4.25
Even though I'm always attempting to be an ally, sometimes the outright anger to/hate for cisgender or straight-identifying characters made me have a visceral reaction and I almost dropped the book because I wasn't in the mood to absorb the anger. Then I realized: a) that's a privilege (that I can choose not to be angry) and maybe it would be worth working through my aversion - and it was worth it; and b) historically, trans characters in particular and lgbtq characters at large have been depicted in pretty vile ways so turnabout is fair play.
So, come for the good fiction and the feels.
Graphic: Transphobia
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
sglance9's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia, Bullying, Police brutality, Deadnaming, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Colonisation and Infertility
aexileigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Deadnaming, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
carolined314'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
3.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Death, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, Police brutality, Stalking, Murder, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Transphobia, Bullying, and Deportation
orion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: War, Bullying, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Child abuse