Scan barcode
kimily's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the story, but it seems odd to me that so many of the characters are autistic. Is there something about being on the spectrum that makes a person more prone to be an Aspect? Or maybe this alien species is more prone to autistic type characteristics. Maybe this is something that will be addressed later in the series, but I don't think I enjoyed Love/Hate enough to read the next book. The story was too disjointed, and there wasn't enough world building. I ended the book no clue if the aliens were good guys or bad guys. I just need more information to lure me into the sequel.
cloudedkaleidoscope's review
3.0
Love/Hate is a book about a group of superheroes, for lack of a better term, called Aspects. They all have abilities that they can control with their emotions, based on whichever Aspect they become. They are stronger when feeling that emotion, and can channel that into powers that they use to take down monsters. The book is set in a future where aliens called the Rena came to Earth. Some came to conquer, while others came to aid Earth's population in this war. Eventually, the Rena who aided Earth in the battle settle down and find lives, creating half-human, half-rena offspring. These offspring are the ones who are possess the ability to become Aspects.
Our protagonist, Claire, is part Rena. She is enrolled in what seems to be a sort of boarding school, apparently following the wishes of her mother after she was killed by one of the monsters. She doesn't remember much from before her mother's death, she just knows her life after it. When her class is on a field trip, they get attacked by one of the monsters. A few of the Aspects come to defeat the monster, and Claire winds up attacking the monster in order to help. After the fight, she meets Hate a bit more closely. Claire and Hate start to spend more time together, going on coffee dates and video calling each other. A few days later, Claire is selected to be the next Aspect of Love.
It was nice to read a book with a wlw main couple, and I actually picked this book up because of that, however I was not in love with the hot and cold game Hate seemed to be playing. Everything between them was fine until Claire became the next Love. It is explained that Hate being with Claire/Love will make her abilities weaker, which makes it a conflict of interest because if they are weaker, there is a higher chance of another Aspect dying. Fine, understandable, but then when the two of them are alone they both seem to want to be in this relationship together. Hate makes the comment "I hate the way you [Claire/Love] make me feel." which in all honesty left me feeling a little gross.
The diversity in this book is refreshing, without making it a huge deal. These characters live with their neurodiversity without being a token "this is my only personality trait" which I respect. Claire is Autistic, and also has Dyscalculia. Hate has ADHD. As someone with ADHD, I would have loved to see more traits and signs of her ADHD. One of the few I can remember is a brief mention of a hyperfixation, but if the author had not told me that Hate has ADHD, I don't know if I would have been able to come to that conclusion. However, ADHD comes in many forms and doesn't present the same in everyone. Things I may have overlooked because they aren't something I personally experience may be something someone else with ADHD relates to.
The amount of times people in this book know something but withhold that information from Claire is downright frustrating. They act like they are trying to help her become the best Aspect she can be, but then they don't tell her that she can activate her staff to make it more powerful and more helpful against these monsters they are constantly fighting? Who does that help?
THIS IS WHERE WE GET INTO SPOILER TERRITORY.
I found Love/Hate enjoyable, but I also found it extremely predictable. You could tell that Claire was going to become the next Love, fine, it moved the story along and it would be difficult to tell the story Mawson was trying to tell without that. But even later twists like Empathy being Claire's sister, or being part of the Rena royal lineage didn't really feel like it needed to be there? It felt like another way of separating Claire as different or special, which isn't a fault of the author themselves, but moreso YA fiction as a whole. I think I would have been more surprised if Claire wasn't a part of the royal line.
And now, the final battle. Claire and Hate get to the enemy they have been chasing in order to find out why the monsters seem to attack a certain target and then leave. They have their revelations, the villain monologues a bit, and then Hate just... Fries him with lightning? It was a very quick way to wrap up the book. Honestly trying not to get separated in a ship with a damaged AI was a more interesting conflict to me.
Summary
While I enjoyed the book overall, I'm not sure I will be reading the rest of the series. It was nice to see a wlw couple as the main love interests in the book, and the diversity feels like it was written by someone who actually understands what it is like to be neurodiverse. However, I found the twists rather predictable and felt like I could see everything in this book coming from a mile away with my eyes closed. It is a good read if you are just looking for something to kill time, or something that isn't going to be as heavy of a read, but if you are looking for something that will surprise you at every turn this isn't the book for you.
Our protagonist, Claire, is part Rena. She is enrolled in what seems to be a sort of boarding school, apparently following the wishes of her mother after she was killed by one of the monsters. She doesn't remember much from before her mother's death, she just knows her life after it. When her class is on a field trip, they get attacked by one of the monsters. A few of the Aspects come to defeat the monster, and Claire winds up attacking the monster in order to help. After the fight, she meets Hate a bit more closely. Claire and Hate start to spend more time together, going on coffee dates and video calling each other. A few days later, Claire is selected to be the next Aspect of Love.
It was nice to read a book with a wlw main couple, and I actually picked this book up because of that, however I was not in love with the hot and cold game Hate seemed to be playing. Everything between them was fine until Claire became the next Love. It is explained that Hate being with Claire/Love will make her abilities weaker, which makes it a conflict of interest because if they are weaker, there is a higher chance of another Aspect dying. Fine, understandable, but then when the two of them are alone they both seem to want to be in this relationship together. Hate makes the comment "I hate the way you [Claire/Love] make me feel." which in all honesty left me feeling a little gross.
The diversity in this book is refreshing, without making it a huge deal. These characters live with their neurodiversity without being a token "this is my only personality trait" which I respect. Claire is Autistic, and also has Dyscalculia. Hate has ADHD. As someone with ADHD, I would have loved to see more traits and signs of her ADHD. One of the few I can remember is a brief mention of a hyperfixation, but if the author had not told me that Hate has ADHD, I don't know if I would have been able to come to that conclusion. However, ADHD comes in many forms and doesn't present the same in everyone. Things I may have overlooked because they aren't something I personally experience may be something someone else with ADHD relates to.
The amount of times people in this book know something but withhold that information from Claire is downright frustrating. They act like they are trying to help her become the best Aspect she can be, but then they don't tell her that she can activate her staff to make it more powerful and more helpful against these monsters they are constantly fighting? Who does that help?
THIS IS WHERE WE GET INTO SPOILER TERRITORY.
I found Love/Hate enjoyable, but I also found it extremely predictable. You could tell that Claire was going to become the next Love, fine, it moved the story along and it would be difficult to tell the story Mawson was trying to tell without that. But even later twists like Empathy being Claire's sister, or being part of the Rena royal lineage didn't really feel like it needed to be there? It felt like another way of separating Claire as different or special, which isn't a fault of the author themselves, but moreso YA fiction as a whole. I think I would have been more surprised if Claire wasn't a part of the royal line.
And now, the final battle. Claire and Hate get to the enemy they have been chasing in order to find out why the monsters seem to attack a certain target and then leave. They have their revelations, the villain monologues a bit, and then Hate just... Fries him with lightning? It was a very quick way to wrap up the book. Honestly trying not to get separated in a ship with a damaged AI was a more interesting conflict to me.
Summary
While I enjoyed the book overall, I'm not sure I will be reading the rest of the series. It was nice to see a wlw couple as the main love interests in the book, and the diversity feels like it was written by someone who actually understands what it is like to be neurodiverse. However, I found the twists rather predictable and felt like I could see everything in this book coming from a mile away with my eyes closed. It is a good read if you are just looking for something to kill time, or something that isn't going to be as heavy of a read, but if you are looking for something that will surprise you at every turn this isn't the book for you.
More...