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elizlizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gore and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Murder, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
booksandstardust's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Torture, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Gore, and Death of parent
Minor: Religious bigotry and Homophobia
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Homophobia, Outing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Suicidal thoughts
A homophobic slur is used on page, fair warning.katemarie99's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Suicide, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
grimmdark'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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Self harm
onefineelephant's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
danaleelin'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The characters are broken and messy, trying to help each other in their various pursuits but not always getting it right. I like the shift in focus from the first book. I especially like getting a lot more of Ronan, in a lot of important ways this is his book just like THE RAVEN BOYS was Gansey’s book.
One thing this series does very well and this book continues is portraying antagonists in a way that makes them at the very least understandable, if not outright sympathetic. I came away with a much more nuanced dislike of a particular villain, and I’m really liking a different one who thus far seems to be pulling off a heel-face turn.
The world-building is a bit lopsided, it's very focused on the characters and the way that the magic affects them but it leaves even more unexplained. It makes up for it by delving into their inner lives in a very intimate way, exploring the nuances of them as people both individually and with each other. It takes seriously the idea that people are a bit different around various combinations of other people, and uses that to heighten and dissipate tension throughout the story. The Raven Boys are the Raven Boys, Blue is Blue, while everything and everyone else matter only as much as they intersects with their lives. No more, and no less. It has a feeling of extreme focus, like nothing else in the world matters to them and their story, with all its complications and obsessions, is all there is.
This wraps up a very major thing left hanging from the first book. Its main storyline was teased earlier but a secondary plot begins here and wasn't present previously. Several major things are introduced and resolved in this book. It left some things hanging to be resolved later. There's a mix of returning and new narrators, and their voices are very distinct from each other and from different narrators in the first book. Some of the plot would make sense without having read the first book, but as a whole this definitely needs the first book and couldn't stand alone if someone read it at random.
I have a couple quibbles related to characterization, but given that the overall arc of this series is that people start out mixed up and confused and bumping against each other‘s hurt edges and then gradually try to get better, it makes it hard to know whether a couple of my sticking points are on purpose or if they are artifacts of unintentional bigotry. Something that was briefly in THE RAVEN BOYS but returns here is the idea that a particular character is beautiful... except for her large nose. Since the book does go out of its way to make a point of addressing stereotypes that lie adjacent to this one and calling them out as harmful, I don’t know what to think about this moment, but it made me uneasy.
Overall I loved this as a continuation of the series but it's definitely a middle-of-the-series book (and it shows). The plot manages to be almost self-contained in its scope but utterly reliant on the first book for its foundation and backstory to sustain its emotional core. The growth and change that happens here is so wonderful because the first book had something else, something harsher, ill-fitting, and tense running through it. The release of that tension and exploration of the characters is fantastic because of how they were before, while also being utterly consistent with them as people. It's progression rather than revision, and done wonderfully.
Graphic: Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child abuse
CW for homophobic slurs.gothicmoon'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? It's complicated
4.0
Another downfall is that I simply do not enjoy Gray Man pov.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty and Torture