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willow_witch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Sexism, and Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders
3bobbielee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent
katvanfos's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcoholism
bb_11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Another sentiment my bookclub shared: we couldn't wait for the first half of the novel to be over, but then the second half made us miss the first half! The end of book "climax" completely invalidates the main character's development and obliterates the stakes all at once.
Would recommend if you want to challenge yourself to critically deconstruct feminish literature and uncover evidence as to why a novel needs more than women>men to say something powerful.
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Misogyny
Minor: Body horror
beebowbabe'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Homophobia, Cancer, and Transphobia
Minor: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
rosa_lina96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The premise itself is interesting- women spontaneously turning into dragons, sometimes ridding themselves of the awful men in their lives in the process, and then flying away to seek greener pastures- but I felt that the concept of "dragoning" was a bit under-utilized. How can you have an entire book built around this concept and really only make vague mentions to it throughout the narrative? And why is it never truly explained why everybody just agrees to cover it up and go along with their lives when, uh, oh yeah, there's a bunch of women spontaneously turning into dragons, which you would think would be pretty darn noticeable? Why did the author choose to make the dragons out to be mindless beasts at first before doing a complete 180 and saying that they have human intelligence, actually, and can even sometimes wear silly hats and such? There just seemed like far too many holes poked in the narrative for it to be worthwhile to me, way too many dangling loose ends left over at the end.
The narrator also came across as a bit insufferable, in my eyes. I did empathize with her struggles to some degree, but after a certain point it really seemed like she was just choosing to be angry at the world for no real reason, like the author decided "hmm okay what this girl really needs is a healthy dose of teenage angst" and decided to cram it into the narrative at the last second. Okay, yes, I get it, on some level your teenage years are a lot of just being angry at the world in general, but at some point you have to let up on it.
That being said, I did love the themes of feminism and independence and struggling with suddenly being thrust into adulthood far too early throughout, even if it seemed rather clumsily executed even at the best of times. I second the opinion that this really would have been better off as a collection of short stories or something, instead of the author trying to stretch the narrative out to a novel format in a way that just made it seem rather hollow as a result.
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Cancer, and Homophobia
wyabook234's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Terminal illness and Medical trauma
Minor: Death and Body horror
savshanae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The writing was emotional and painted vivid pictures (it was also wordy). Sometimes repetitive, but I think it adds to the story by the end.
The self-expression and ideas that it inspired are challenging and thought provoking, and I really enjoyed that it is written to feel like you are being TOLD a story, someone’s thoughts and life experiences.
This book made me very angry, made me cry (lots), made me want to stop reading it. But it’s definitely worth the read and the rage.
Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Bullying, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Animal death, and Domestic abuse
sydniv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, and Sexism
Minor: Lesbophobia
fiddleysticks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Sexism, Violence, and Cancer