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eachz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
To be fair I probably would have liked reading this in middle school. I picked it off the shelf because my library categorized it as adult fiction and magical realism. IMO it's neither of the above -- this is YA fantasy with some extra dark topics. And underdeveloped characters, lol.
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Murder, and Sexual assault
dorset_daisy's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide and Transphobia
emmaward55's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book, whilst worth it, took a lot out of me. The stark themes of trauma, neglect and mental illness are not to be underestimated in their severity. I do wish I'd gone into the book with an awareness of how intense the narrative was, but this is still a book I will probably go on to recommend to others, despite it being both darker and sadder than my usual recs.
The ending was a surprise to me and it somehow ended on a happier / more ambiguous note than I was expecting. I really like how it resolved and the way that the murders of her English teacher and father were undone made me think of the healing that comes after a trauma has been addressed and dealt with head on. This whole book is about one girl dealing with unresolved trauma and the fallout of it, so for her to get the ending that she did was something of a relief for me. Yes, she is often an awful person in the last act of the book, but again that felt consistent with the looming threat of the climax of the book.
Whilst Magpie was not always justified in her actions, I could understand why she so drastically and I didn't begrudge her that. For her to apparently then choose to release her father and the English teacher says to me that she realised her mistake and decided that they did not do anything worthy of such a fatal punishment. That they returned and her assaulter did not, tells me that they were returned because Magpie wished it to be so, apparently having spent the months alone reflecting and healing. It also makes me wonder if she left the doorway open for Alison on purpose, some part of her perhaps realising that her ex best friend needed the escape as much as Magpie had. If that is the case, and Magpie has forgiven her, I like to think that they'll sail the seas together. Just two weary girls, and an ocean before them.
Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Suicide, Bullying, and Child abuse
Minor: Drug abuse, Transphobia, and Gore
The child abuse is all about neglect, with the exception of one instant where a teenager is slapped by their parent during an argument. The sexual assault is written about in very graphic detail at the end of the book, although by that point the narration of it is a lot more numb and there's no real emotive language or reactions from the survivor, so whilst it's still difficult to read, it isn't anywhere near as distressing as it could be.wardenred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Everybody has a reason to want to change their lives.
Instead, it felt like I only got to witness her defeat.
I also wasn't a fan of how the whole Near plotline was handled on the whole. In magical realism books like this, I expect to see a sort of ambiguity: "Is this real, or is this only happening in the character's head?" Here, this ambiguity was handled in a pretty weird way for me. On one hand, I felt like I was expected to immediately buy it that Near is completely, 100% real. On the other hand, for at least the first 2/3 of the book there was preciously little reason to actually think so, if I looked closely at the actual events. I don't know, it was like I expected a soft shadow play and got stark contrasts, and it only served to magnify that feeling I talked about in the paragraph under the spoiler above.
Bottom line: I felt like this ended up being a story about the abusers winning, despite the successful revenge and the supposed empowerment the MC got, and I didn't like that.
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia
tis_bee_me'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Medical trauma, and Bullying
Moderate: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Transphobia and Child abuse
rachelkc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Bullying, Vomit, Blood, and Suicide
Minor: Transphobia
thebookgirl's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence