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lonelylooper's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Death and Cursing
rach_fornow's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I feel like the premise of this book was really fun but it was too short and underdeveloped for me to get into it. I wanted to see follow up of them doing more things, going to more universes, the impact of Ursula being swapped with Captain Nouresh
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder
abookwormspov's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-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
4.75
This is a novella and is fast paced, but didn’t feel overly rushed to me and had lots of action and room for character development. The story delves into Ava’s anxiety and Jules’ neurodivergence and how these aspects affected their relationship and leads to some great conversations and internal monologues on these points. We get to see a few unique worlds full of cool sci-fi bits, lots of humorous moments, and an emotional ending that did make me cry (as a disclaimer though that’s not exactly hard to do).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
savazelena's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It's a very interesting little story and of course I adore the representation, but it just felt rushed, especially towards the ending. It has some grand ideas that could work in a novella or a novel, but this execution just wasn't adequate. For the most part I felt like there wasn't any conflict at all so the plot was bland and dry. I have to admit the ending surprised me though, so I enjoyed the last few minutes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia
maresuju's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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 and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia
scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia
linblythe_pub22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia and Blood
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
the_true_monroe's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This is a very quick read/ listen and it is definitely adventurous and funny but there is a lot that goes underdeveloped.
Amazing job in terms of diverse characters and intersectionality. One of the main characters (Jules) for example, is a neurodivergent black, nonbinary child of immigrants.
Speaking of Jules, I related to them so much especially with their constant “that’s so cool!” with their mind going from one thing to another, and how they feel they always mess things up.
Short books are perfectly fine and while we did learn enough to get a picture of who Ava and Jules are, we knew they’d been in a relationship and why they broke up but I still for the most part could not establish any sort of dynamic between them other than their connection through work and bickering recently broken up partners.
I like how the ending is left open in this case which is something that does not always feel right to me. I definitely would read a sequel or other related book.
Also completely unrelated to my rating, I was laughing reading the reviews and how almost everyone mentioned Ikea yet I completely was oblivious to that having been the setting 😅. I know of Ikea and think I have been to one once but don’t remember much.
Amazing job in terms of diverse characters and intersectionality. One of the main characters (Jules) for example, is a neurodivergent black, nonbinary child of immigrants.
Speaking of Jules, I related to them so much especially with their constant “that’s so cool!” with their mind going from one thing to another, and how they feel they always mess things up.
Short books are perfectly fine and while we did learn enough to get a picture of who Ava and Jules are, we knew they’d been in a relationship and why they broke up but I still for the most part could not establish any sort of dynamic between them other than their connection through work and bickering recently broken up partners.
I like how the ending is left open in this case which is something that does not always feel right to me. I definitely would read a sequel or other related book.
Also completely unrelated to my rating, I was laughing reading the reviews and how almost everyone mentioned Ikea yet I completely was oblivious to that having been the setting 😅. I know of Ikea and think I have been to one once but don’t remember much.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Cursing, Blood, Medical content, Emotional abuse, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
shugentobler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia
skeuomorphism's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-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
a really entertaining read! loved the portrayal of jules and ava's relationship. the painfully awkward and raw post-breakup times were really well-written. and the description of litenvärld which sounds like a potent corporate-flavoured mix of ikea and meow wolf's omega mart. kinda wish the book was longer so that we could all learn more about the litenverse and am i so glad about defekt's existence!
+ i'm not going to pretend that i am So Normal about ambiguous/open endings. they leave you stranded on a cliff above what if sea but the view is so so sexy!!!! like this ending. when i got to the chapter where ava went to jules' i was terrified that it'd be deus ex machinaed with them coming out of a wormhole but no. instead the story tenderly hands the reins to ava. which says something VERY LOUDLY about the theme of fate, relationships, and character development, etc.
food for thought
food for thought
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Transphobia
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail