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wishbea'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? Yes
4.0
It was wonderful to read a fantasy story from the perspective of adult women, where many of them have kids/kid charges and it's an accomplishment that the children were all dynamic characters and not frustrating to read about or detrimental to the plot in a way they sometimes are. Themes of motherhood and found family are very strong here.
The romances and friendships all felt organic to me and I was definitely rooting for the budding new romance in the book.
The trans storyline was by far the strongest and was what made this book 5 stars for me, it used a great many talking points I've heard from trans people, allies and TERFs so it was bone chilling how accurate to real life the arguments the characters were having felt.
We also get POC characters and lesbian characters, but their struggles were sidelined somewhat and I am hoping they will get their chance to shine in the next book.
I'm glad the second book is out because I can't wait to read it and find out where these characters go next.
Edit: After reading the second book I've changed my rating to 4 stars as I realised the ending to this book destroys multiple characters storylines and is partially responsible for book 2 being disappointing.
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Transphobia
Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, Murder, Outing, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Classism, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, and War
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
marwal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia
Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Outing, Classism, and War
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Death, Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, War, Death of parent, Infidelity, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
th18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
- Fast pace and seemed more YA than anything, too many modern references for me personally but each to their own.
- This also felt like the second book of the series at the start there was just so much unexplained things thrown in.
- Whilst the book did deal with modern topics such as race and trans rights, I wish it also talked a bit about harmful beauty standards due to Elle literally hiding her true self from her husband.
- I feel like the amount of swear words was also unnneeded.
- I love the idea of queer witches and empowered modern women but I feel like the talk about adulthood was very bleak
- The writing and worldbuilding also felt quite underdeveloped which was disappointing
- Finally the use of the d slur was completely unneeded
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Death, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Classism, Cursing, Car accident, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Outing, Kidnapping, Self harm, Infidelity, and Abortion
natashaleighton_'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? Yes
5.0
It’s told a from the POV of four witches : Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle—childhood friends how find themselves on opposing sides when a young trans witch is taken into custody by Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (HMRC) under the belief they may be the catalyst to a terrifying prophecy that could destroy the world.
I absolutely loved Theo and her bond with Niamh and Holly, seeing how happy she was, finally being able to live as her true self was amazing! I don’t want to spoil the plot, but trust me you don’t want to miss this one. It’s EPIC and given THAT jaw dropper of an ending I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel 😍❤️
TWs: transphobia, racism, violence, murder
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, Transphobia, Racism, and Classism
cozywithraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Death of parent, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, and Colonisation
Minor: Death of parent
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cursing, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Outing, Child abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Car accident, Colonisation, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
azebrareads'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deadnaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Torture, War, Alcohol, Car accident, Violence, Biphobia, Confinement, Self harm, Bullying, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Sexism
applepieandeve's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Outing, Murder, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, and Classism
abominablesnowaro'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Car accident, Classism, Death, Fatphobia, Murder, Outing, and Transphobia
Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Violence, War, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Blood, and Body shaming