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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
All Signs Point to Yes by Adrianne White, Cam Montgomery, g. haron davis
2 reviews
annelihghh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Death
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse
emily_mh's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately, I found this book to be pretty disappointing overall. There were some good stories, my favourites being The South Street Challenge by Eric Smith and Doublespeak by Tehlor Kay Mejia, but there weren’t enough to make me want to recommend this read. I really had to push myself to get through it.
Furthermore, there are also two big flaws in the premise of the anthology. The first is that preceding each story would be a short description of how someone’s Venus sign impacts their love life, which would set the reader up to expect similar qualities in the MC or LI. However, only the Sun sign of the MC or LI would come up in the story itself. So the book conflated the person’s Venus sign with their Sun sign, which for a book centred on astrology, seems like a big mistake? Secondly, the anthology includes a story for the “thirteenth star sign” Ophiuchus. However, acknowledgement of this sign throws off the dates of all the other star signs, which means that the Sun signs of all the other characters in the book are thrown off as traditional dates for these signs are mentioned in the stories. Additionally, to my knowledge Ophiuchus is not generally accepted by the astrological community as a legitimate star sign, so why is it being included in an astrologically-themed book?
My general thoughts concluded, I will now review each of the stories individually.
ruler and killer by g. haron davis (Aries): This was a very average story with a generic premise, and a trope I personally despise: instalove. I also didn’t understand why the MC wanted the Coronet when their family or guards or whatever killed her mother?
The Taste of a Kiss by Roselle Lim (Taurus): I loved the MC in this story, but the romance plotline was a little confused. Most of the story felt like a set-up to be a best friends to lovers situation, but it ended up being a second-chance romance. I had a hard time believing that kindy friends who hadn’t seen each other since then would be all over each other 14 years later. At the same time, it was kind of swoony.
Doublespeak, Tehlor Kay Mejia (Gemini): I loved this! It was a perfect Gemini story and had a great premise generally. I felt so bubbly and excited for the MC.
L(Train)iminal by Karuna Riazi (Cancer): This was a little messy in terms of timeline; it was at times unclear whether something was happening in the past or present. I did, however, like the premise of a homeless, undocumented witch needing to be grounded to do their best magic.
Alternative Combustion by Kiana Nguyen (Leo): This was incredibly half-baked. What even happened? Who were the characters? I sure didn’t know.
Sometime in September by Byron Graves (Virgo): This was a perfectly fine story. The plot worked well in a short story format.
Fake Scorpio by Mark Oshiro (Libra): I really loved the MC of this story, and the love story worked well in a short story format. However, the plotline of being a fake Scorpio felt really disconnected from it.
The South Street Challenge by Eric Smith (Scorpio): An incredibly sweet story, both in terms of the romance and the friendships the MC enjoyed. Well suited to being a short story.
Formation by Cam Montgomery (Ophiucus): As well as my qualms concerning this star sign’s inclusion, I simply did not understand what was happening in this story. I also don’t like immortal/mortal romances as they’re problematic, especially concerning this age group.
Anchor Point by Lily Anderson (Sagittarius): This was sweet, fun, and surprising. Archery was a great way at further incorporating Sagittarius into the plot.
Mucho, Mucho Amor by Alexandra Villasante (Capricorn): The romantic tension in this one was a little messy. I didn’t like how the LI up and left without giving the MC a chance to explain. Otherwise, I loved this story, especially the mother/daughter relationship that it featured.
I Come From the Water by Adrianne White (Aquarius): What even happened in this story? What was the point? I still don’t know and am very confused.
The Cure for Heartbreak by Emery Lee (Pisces): This was a lovely story that worked perfectly in a short story format. It also made me laugh out loud.
As a final side note, the audiobook was really subpar. There was one narrator in particular that was insufferable, and unfortunately I don’t know who they were as the audiobook didn’t indicate who was narrating each story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Cancer, Medical content, Car accident, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Death, Murder, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Xenophobia, War, and Gore
Major warning for the undocumented migrant experience. Moderate warnings for deportation, loss of a loved one, sick parent. Minor warnings for misogynoir, polyamorphobia, sick grandparent, child birth, drowning, hunting, gentrification.
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