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adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I came into this book immensely hesitant. I'm not a fan of romance. I find most stories to be either be too quick with the development, or so slow I forget it was even a part of the book. And overall, it's just not my thing. Additionally, I'm a fan of horror and thriller stories. So, aside from the urban fantasy and found family aspects, I thought I wouldn't get much from a "lighthearted" and "romance" book. This was not helped by me finding the main character, Linus, to be a very different protagonist than I expected: A 40-something year old child service worker with a stuffy, distant attitude.
I teared up three times, and by the epilogue, my eyes were so wet I had to wipe them with a paper towel to be able to see the words on the screen.
I very rarely cry from any story. When I do, I know it has ensnared me. I also very rarely think about books in terms of "Boy, I really wish people would write fanfiction about this." So imagine my surprise when I read nearly seven chapters straight.
The romance isn't the main aspect of this story. The main love story is Linus taking on a fatherly role towards the children in the 'orphanage' and how those kids grow to love him. The way each character developed was so subtle I barely noticed how much had changed until the end.
One complaint I had while reading this story was, "How is this described as lighthearted and middle-school reading?" The story almost feels dystopian at first. A society blatantly prejudiced against the supernatural, going as far as to harm children in its hatred. I'm a black, trans-masc person, so some parts of this story took me by such surprise that I was actually uncomfortable.
But that's not an actually a complaint. By the end of the story, I understood. It's a story about overcoming your own bigotry, learning from people you never expected to interact with (much less care for), and taking the first steps in changing society. Parts of this story gets dark, but I would happily hand this book to a pre-teen.
This story literally made me feel brighter. It made me more confident about choosing the best path in my life, no matter what society says it should be.
I teared up three times, and by the epilogue, my eyes were so wet I had to wipe them with a paper towel to be able to see the words on the screen.
I very rarely cry from any story. When I do, I know it has ensnared me. I also very rarely think about books in terms of "Boy, I really wish people would write fanfiction about this." So imagine my surprise when I read nearly seven chapters straight.
The romance isn't the main aspect of this story. The main love story is Linus taking on a fatherly role towards the children in the 'orphanage' and how those kids grow to love him. The way each character developed was so subtle I barely noticed how much had changed until the end.
One complaint I had while reading this story was, "How is this described as lighthearted and middle-school reading?" The story almost feels dystopian at first. A society blatantly prejudiced against the supernatural, going as far as to harm children in its hatred. I'm a black, trans-masc person, so some parts of this story took me by such surprise that I was actually uncomfortable.
But that's not an actually a complaint. By the end of the story, I understood. It's a story about overcoming your own bigotry, learning from people you never expected to interact with (much less care for), and taking the first steps in changing society. Parts of this story gets dark, but I would happily hand this book to a pre-teen.
This story literally made me feel brighter. It made me more confident about choosing the best path in my life, no matter what society says it should be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Murder
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent
The only problem I had with this book was that I loved the characters so much and for the longest time was terrified their world would stomp out their light.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Fatphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Torture, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well. This is a damn fine book. I stayed up until 3am to read it all in one sitting because I wanted to know what happened, and I loved the characters so much. The mystery is a quiet one. The conflict is not the end of the world, but rather small tensions here and there between characters. Moments where we hope our protagonist will stand up and shine.
The relationship development in this book is fantastic. It is slow and measured and so, so sweet when little changes in the dynamic make themselves apparent.
This is the found family story that everyone needs. Just be ready to cry rather a lot. Sad tears and happy tears and oooh-that-hits-me-in-my-heart tears.
The only thing that kept this from being a 5-star book for me is the way that some of the characters would state the theme outright...and it happened more than once. It got to be a little on-the-nose. I understand why it was written that way, though, and this is still a solid "will be re-read" keeper for me.
The relationship development in this book is fantastic. It is slow and measured and so, so sweet when little changes in the dynamic make themselves apparent.
This is the found family story that everyone needs. Just be ready to cry rather a lot. Sad tears and happy tears and oooh-that-hits-me-in-my-heart tears.
The only thing that kept this from being a 5-star book for me is the way that some of the characters would state the theme outright...and it happened more than once. It got to be a little on-the-nose. I understand why it was written that way, though, and this is still a solid "will be re-read" keeper for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Cannibalism, Death of parent