Scan barcode
gcoulsxn'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: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping
joliebean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
itsrenee'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? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
frecklebrows'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
3.75
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Death and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual harassment
vvayl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Murder
sappix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Gore, and Pedophilia
sn8man's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism
robotnik's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
First off, the world building. The absolute garbage dump that is the world building in this novel. For the most part, it's non-existent. This world is a generic low fantasy sort of world without much thought or effort in it with vaguely French names for places. The one unique and interesting thing about it is the use of the Cinderella fairy tale as a bit of a historical point/creation myth from a few hundred years ago but everything else is so bland and uninspired that it's painful. The one thing that seems to have any effort put into it is how over the top sexist the world is. Yes, sexism exists and is a problem but the way this book does it is so unbelievably cartoony that I can't even take any of the abuse seriously because it's done in a very "LOOK HOW ABUSIVE AND AWFUL THIS WORLD IS TO GIRLS MEN ARE ALL AWFUL" kind of way. Can you make a world with these topics and do them well? Yes. Does this book do anything with the sexism themes well? No.
The other problem with the world building is the fact there's so many holes with the system this society lives on. It's so weak, it's amazing it manages to stand at all. The villain is also a very generic "heh heh heh I'm eviiiiiil" sort of dude. He's not good. He's not threatening. He's worse than the killer in a B-rated slasher flick. He's honestly a pathetic attempt of making me gasp over all the horrible stuff he does because, every time he shows up, I just can't take him seriously at all.
Which brings us to the main character of Sophia. I keep saying this over and over this year, but Sophia's in the running for one of the worst protagonists I ever had to suffer through. The book makes it very clear that it thinks Sophia is the only one to really see the problems in the system (though so many other characters agree with her but have no power to change it because they don't wanna fucking die and that's a perfectly valid reasons, thanks) and that she always seems correct. Except, she's not. She's selfish, entitled and fickle. She wants Erin to run away with her but when Erin doesn't want to because she doesn't want to risk her and her family's safety and livelihood, Sophia is just flabbergasted and pulls a "but what about me" as if her being in love is the only thing that's important. And that way she doesn't let go is straight up harassment. That's not okay; that's not how you treat the girl you love. Not the way Sophia does it. It even gets justified later that, sure, Sophia was trying to force her but also she was right the whole time so you can't blame her, ok. Of course, the first chance another pretty girl looks her way and Sophia is entirely smitten with her. And, don't worry, they 100% have a case of insta-love while having barely any chemistry. She literally shits on her parents for making her go through with the ball (even if it's required by law and they're just trying to survive in this shitty world) but when her dad won't march up to the king and fight him for her after she gets her dumb ass wanted over her own goddamn stupidity, she acts like he's the worst parent in the world. Like no, she's the worst daughter in the world and she never takes responsibility for the stupid, selfish things that she does. The very idea a person who's this much of a selfish idiot can manage to pull anything off is an ass pull and thus super unbelievable. Really, she's just another stereotypical YA protagonist with no substance and it was impossible to root for her as she made her questionable decisions.
All the other characters are highly one-dimensional and do not stand out in any way, shape or form. I don't even know what else to say on them because they're so boring and bland that there's not much else to say. This might be the most uninteresting cast I've read all year. Even the ones in other books I disliked had more personality than this.
There's a romance in this story. Did I like it? No. It was riddled with insta-love and a lack of chemistry. There was pretty much no development to it at all. It didn't enhance anything about the story and actively made it worse rather than better.
The plot had some good bits to it, but it ultimately winds up going out with a whimper. That ending was a bore. The final confrontation tried to make something of itself but was ultimately not that interesting nor was it satisfying.
I'm going to be quite honest: I don't think the writer was strong enough to write the phenomenal story this concept deserved. The writing itself felt very middle grade rather than young adult, which turned out very jarring with the content it was trying to provide. The pacing was poor and switched between things happening rapidly to pages of infodumping. The weird world building went into a full bent man hating fest, which felt more like an eyeroll inducing tumblr post than anything substantial.
Overall, this book was a mess. I guess if I squint my eyes and tilt my head, I can see why people enjoy it. But, I found it far too weak and messy to be enjoyable. To each their own, I guess.
Graphic: Sexism
shawntellreads'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Sexual harassment
seren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism