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tiana_king's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Torture, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Death of parent
rrstockton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Self harm
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Bullying
Minor: Car accident and Grief
The love interest is seven years older than the teenage main character. Also no sex but some graphic make outs depicting a minor.homesweetread'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
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, Mental illness, Car accident, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Medical content
scarlettereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
I’m going to put some of that down to the audio narrator who shouldn’t try for a Russian accent for any reason at all, but a lot of it is down to the writing.
The major issue I take with this book (and I felt the same fifteen years ago), is that the love interest is literally a paedophile. What was it about the 2000s that had YA authors writing about “older guy” love interests like their lives depended on it?
I hated Dimitri Belikov way back when, and I hate him even more now.
This is going to sound extremely bizarre, and perhaps it’s like when Michael Gary Scott imagined a unicorn before he’d ever seen one but hear me out: Before I even knew of the existence of Tommy Wiseau it was Tommy Wiseau who I pictured when I pictured Dimitri. To fifteen year old me that was how much older than seventeen a twenty-four year old looked. Also, how the hell did I do that?
Even after watching the terrible but bingeable TV adaptation where Dimitri is just some British guy who slipped into a sort of Russian accent about twice, I still see Tommy Wiseau when I picture Dimitri Belikov. Just wearing a leather duster coat and fewer belts.
Is it kind of iconic of me to read a book with a love interest who is kind of part vampire, who looks EXACTLY like TOMMY WISEAU, who I believe to be kind of part vampire—it explains a lot about him, just think on it for a minute—when I had never seen or heard of Tommy W? Incredibly. The accent is somewhere in the wheelhouse of what the audiobook performer went with, so why the hell not?
(But my sincerest apologies to Mr. Wiseau for picturing him when I envisioned a child predator in 2009. I know now that he’s just an “American guy” who is so super good at playing “American football” but is probably not a fan of garlic or holy water.
Anyway, this book is bad. Rose is pretty horrible. Dimitri is literally a paedophile. Etc etc etc. How the librarians at my catholic high school snuck this series onto the shelves I’ll never know, but I kind of wish they hadn’t 😬
Graphic: Self harm, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, and Grief
theworldof11's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Mental illness
boundt0please's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, and Animal death
Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Death of parent
judithprr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness and Self harm
joyfulfoodie'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: Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Kidnapping, Classism, Grief, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
queerandweird'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I skipped about a third of this bc YA is dull, cishet YA romance is even duller. Fun for vampire lore, loved the female BFFs and their focus in the story. Has been fun for research on drama of fantasy royalty, and inspires me to write more!
Reminiscent of Buffy; I dig this TV series A LOT - maybe moreso than the way the books have the story
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Animal death
Moderate: Mental illness