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Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Classism
Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Abandonment
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, War
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Despite this, it's still a very bittersweet feminist coming of age story worth reading. Reminded me of Little Women and Jane Eyre but with a queer fantasy twist. I was worried about the trans inclusivity of what appeared on the cover to be a rather gender exclusive event, but the book handled it really well.
There was some relevant woven in discourse about the dangers of repression, patriarchy, anti-intellectualism, and discrimination. I liked that even though the story portrays the harm caused by censorship and taboo, it also acknowledges the ease with which some people will slip into the comfort of ignorance. The dialogue does get repetitive though, and I wish the later parts of the book had cut that in favour of a more fleshed out lore. Both Gantz and Alex seemed to have very idealised thoughts on science and academia, and that also grated on me a little.
The book's themes are so numerous and sometimes vague (on purpose though, because of the societal refusal to talk in a direct manner) that it's difficult to decide what exactly it's trying to say at any given point, but there's a lot of good lines in there, and my main take away was based on this great one
The smallness and the largeness of an individual life does not change the fundamental honor and value of every manifestation of our personhood.
It doesn't matter if you're ordinary or extraordinary as long as you just ARE. And along those lines I'm glad that this book exists and that I read it.
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Like others have said, the ending was not Barnhill's best executed finale, and was very "magical mainly white feminism saves the world" which, like while I wish an all inclusive feminism would save the world ideally now please, definitely is an abrupt and careless end to a novel that details so, so much of its characters' endless struggles under the culturally reinforced patriarchy. I can understand why other reviews have the complaints they have, especially after reading the end.
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia
Minor: Medical content
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment