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sammy_nor's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Transphobia and Grief
Minor: Deadnaming
cardsofthecastle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Murder and Violence
dododenise's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Seeing a nonbinary autistic mc is what made me pick up this book in the first place. I loved Sam and the other characters. They were wonderful and pulled me through this book.
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Mental illness, Biphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Ableism, Outing, and Grief
Minor: Car accident and Cancer
valereads's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Biphobia, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Self harm
ashylibrarian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Sam's character is so dynamic and full of emotion that I could not help but feel as if I was next to them the entire time, seeing the story play out from their perspective.
I appreciated the subtle magical-realism that played into the mystery unfolding.
Can we take a MOMENT to appreciate the relationship Sam has with their dad? The positive representation of a single-father household was truly warming to read about, and the ways in which Sam and Junius communicate and engage with each other are beautiful. It's not perfect and clean all the time, but it felt happy and true.
I also love the cover!
Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Death, Biphobia, and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol
piikasmalls's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, and Transphobia
acasiamae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Mental illness
Minor: Outing, Vomit, and Bullying
emily_mh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Stalking, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Child death, Self harm, Biphobia, and Gun violence
Minor: Classism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Suicide, Alcohol, Car accident, Racism, Alcoholism, Addiction, War, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Ableism
Major: queerphobia, medical emergency, anaphylactic shock Moderate: migraines Minor: foster system, loss of a loved one, drowningthewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Homophobia, Death, Transphobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Outing
hobbithopeful's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Cover
I really love the illustration on the cover, it is so great to see the vivid descriptions of Sam brought to life against the gorgeous smoky background. The way their tattoo sleeve smokes from their arm to create the background is just the lovely little cherry on top. I will say they are mentioned as having multi colored dyed hair strands so it would have been nice to see that depicted.
I am not a huge fan of the font, it feels a bit immature to me, especially considering this is a YA novel and deals with heavier topics. I also feel the light blue of the blurb on the front gets lost a bit, especially against the purple background.
It is hard not to be picky about a book that I so enjoyed, I always think an amazing book deserves and equally perfect cover.
Design by Barbara Grzeslo
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Outing
Minor: Murder