Reviews tagging 'Outing'

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

24 reviews

mcdal's review against another edition

5.0

I cannot remember the last time I was so immediately gripped by a book that I could not put it down. Reading this opened the floodgates of nostalgia, to when I would pace around my room analyzing the mysteries of House of Anubis or when I would laugh at the corny but heartfelt banter of My Babysitter’s a Vampire or even when I’d watch pirated episodes of Trollz on YouTube.

This book was perfectly whimsical, had impeccable humor, and the characters were just so immediately likeable and dynamic. More than anything, what kept me going, what made it impossible for me to put this book down was the characters. I loved every single one of them. I even loved the sappy teen romance which in any other story I would have had little patience for (it does help that there are some critical differences when it comes to the identities of the characters involved though). (Oh, and Maeve has ADHD. Yeah, yeah she’s magic or whatever but also Maeve has ADHD and you cannot convince me otherwise)

I knew this book would be good but I was not expecting to fall in love with it. All Our Hidden Gifts is the fun, melodrama-laden queer urban fantasy romp I have been wanting for ages, and god am I so glad I decided to pick this book up. Even if it did throw a wrench in my to do list for the day lol. 

I knew I was probably gonna give this book a high rating but what made it a five stars for me is unfortunately spoilers; what I can say is the ending was so refreshing as someone who has found herself frustrated in the past with similar YA books. 

So yeah, this was amazing, the day has disappeared before my very eyes, I have no regrets, and I can’t wait to read the sequel. 

I gained five years back to my lifespan when the author ended the story saying that forgiveness is never something a person is owed, like I can’t stress enough how having Lily still be mad at Maeve made this book a 5/5 in my eyes. Because yes, no one is obligated to forgive someone who has hurt them, and this is sadly a message too few YA books ever consider. I am so grateful the author in this case understood how trauma and interpersonal relationships actually work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Outing, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Self harm

hollymileham's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this book is so bizarre... why is it so good but so bad
i think i would have enjoyed it more had it focused more on the mystery aspect of lily going missing, i felt that it went off on a few too many tangents which damaged its potential a little
some of it is literally hilarious btw

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia

Moderate: Outing

queersubtext's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, and Classism

Minor: Outing

abigailc0x's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

i literally read 250 pages today so be impressed!!!
it was really really good hence why i read most of it in a few days but ended not how i expected it
side note the made up song lyrics made me slightly cringe but maybe that’s a me thing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Outing, Suicide, Blood, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Transphobia

Minor: Xenophobia

sorcha_rosa's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. Beautifully, but simply written, the story captures so well what it's like to be a teenager and to have problems with friends and classmates. I loved the different friendships in this, so well done. The story was occult and funny and overall, just a really good time.
Some of the characters have to deal with homophobia/transphobia, but in my opinion (own voices review), it was handled super well, and didn't feel triggering to read at all, just validating.
I also loved the discussions of being non-binary in this book. They felt heartfelt and clumsy in an authentic adolescent way, that feels really real, in the way that you actually figure things out as a teenager.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Outing, Self harm, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Suicide

abookishwasp's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Violence, Biphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood and Bullying

valley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I overall liked the story and all the details and explanations about magic, but what this book lacks in my opinion is subtlety. Whenever an important and controversial topic is brought up, which we have a lot of,

from Jo's activism, to Roes problems coming out and the racism Fiona has experienced,

  we always get it written out, how bad that is. Of course explaining lgbtq themes for example is important, but the way it was written really just made me feel icky and it felt unnatural, like in a school lesson. 

The end was honestly kind of annoying to me, totally subjective, i know, but them all getting powers just feels like creating Gary Stus and Mary Sues and quirky events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Dysphoria, Outing, Medical content, Deadnaming, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

loony_lucy's review

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

Took me a while finish this book. I’ve been reading it since October but I finally finished it. Yay! I enjoyed the book overall but had a few issues with it 

I liked the mystery and the flaws of the main character were at the forefront of the story. I liked the witchcraft elements with the tarot cards and the mythology of the white lady. 

I didn’t like how young the voices of these characters sounded with the juxtaposition of such adult themes displayed in the book. It felt way too clunky. I thought the ending was very rushed and not a lot of resolution was given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Outing, Self harm, Hate crime, Transphobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Violence

finn_nn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Outing, Self harm, Violence, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Deadnaming, and Death

Minor: Blood

matheo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Outing

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, War, and Adult/minor relationship