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xenomorph's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, and Drug abuse
lucys_library's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
millieeharmann's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
2.5
2.5 stars because I loved half of it, and struggled with the other half. I loved Adam's story as well as his relationships. Those he held dearest to him are so easy to love and are representative of a beautiful found family where your biological family isn't.
That being said, a common thing I've noticed with Ness' writing is that he switches pov and pulls the reader out of the story. I especially noticed this with the final installment in the chaos walking trilogy, as well as this book. The side story of the faun and the queen ran completely parallel to Adam's narrative, and there was no influence over the events of either story until the final chapter. This was frustrating as the fantasy narrative had minimal context and made little sense, additionally, it seemed to only pull from some of the tensest moments in Adam's journey, cheapening the beauty of them. The story of the queen at the beginning seemed promising, however just remained flat throughout the entire story, with minimal climax.
That being said, if I were ever to reread this, I would skip the fantasy narrative completely and only read the chapters dedicated to Adam, and it would still make complete sense.
That being said, a common thing I've noticed with Ness' writing is that he switches pov and pulls the reader out of the story. I especially noticed this with the final installment in the chaos walking trilogy, as well as this book. The side story of the faun and the queen ran completely parallel to Adam's narrative, and there was no influence over the events of either story until the final chapter. This was frustrating as the fantasy narrative had minimal context and made little sense, additionally, it seemed to only pull from some of the tensest moments in Adam's journey, cheapening the beauty of them. The story of the queen at the beginning seemed promising, however just remained flat throughout the entire story, with minimal climax.
That being said, if I were ever to reread this, I would skip the fantasy narrative completely and only read the chapters dedicated to Adam, and it would still make complete sense.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
eol's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Drug abuse
coophone's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault
carolined's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
No rating - this book is clearly not written for me so it didn't seem fair.
Like in 'The rest of us just live here' you have teenagers so caught up with their petty issues they don't realise the world is in danger however it's not so jarring this time as they have no way of knowing about the existential threat.
Anyway, there are two plot lines here, one of Adam dealing with teen drama somehow all condensed into one day and one of Katherine, somehow raised from the dead and not sure what's going on.
Unlike most of the other reviews so far I found Katherine's story far more tragic and compelling.
Also some reviewers have said that the religious bigotry is realistically portrayed, but for people outside the USA who don't have this normalised it's 'Oranges are not the only fruit' or 'Purple Hibicus' levels of crazy.
Like in 'The rest of us just live here' you have teenagers so caught up with their petty issues they don't realise the world is in danger however it's not so jarring this time as they have no way of knowing about the existential threat.
Anyway, there are two plot lines here, one of Adam dealing with teen drama somehow all condensed into one day and one of Katherine, somehow raised from the dead and not sure what's going on.
Unlike most of the other reviews so far I found Katherine's story far more tragic and compelling.
Also some reviewers have said that the religious bigotry is realistically portrayed, but for people outside the USA who don't have this normalised it's 'Oranges are not the only fruit' or 'Purple Hibicus' levels of crazy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death
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