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tcgarback's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: C+
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)
This was so, so much fun to read. Super propulsive. Well-rounded. Kind of feel-good. I was sure I’d give it a great score.
Then one of the plot twists made the house fall apart.
Before I get into spoilers, I’ll add that the coziness and excitement I felt for the majority of this book filled me with joy. I kept saying to myself how glad I was to agree with the hype. It bums me out that I no longer feel that way.
I did not read this book as transphobic in and of itself. But the gender identity twist is the perfect material for bigots to argue that liberal parents are forcing children to be trans. This book falls right into a homophobic agenda.
Basically, the twist makes delusions of grooming real. If there were actual trans characters in this book and they were well-written, this problematic twist wouldn’t matter much, but the only presence of queerness (and it’s not even a queer person, just the subject matter of queerness) in this narrative is in a forced gender swap. That is so dangerous to put out there, when homophobes are looking for every piece of material with which to bolster their toxic arguments.
Do parents like this actually exist? Yes. But when the subject matter of gender queerness is only present through the harm of these parents, it produces the danger of the single story, theorized by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Will someone who’s not transphobic walk away from this story transphobic? Probably not. But will a transphobic person read this and feel vindicated? Yes.
I’ll add that I am so sick of the trope of queerness being used as a shocking reveal—and again, it’s not actual queerness in this book, just the subject matter of it, because the child does not identify as trans. Queer identity is not a cute little plot device to throw in for fun. It’s not a lightbulb idea. It’s a sensitive subject that deserves to be handled with taste and knowledge.
I also realized by the end that Hidden Pictures is very, if quietly, gender norm-y and anti-atheism, though I was fine with the religiousness of the MC; if anything it was kind of refreshing? I feel like a clown saying that, because we have plentyyy of religious MC’s out there. It’s not where we are thirsty for representation, lol.
If it weren’t for these gripes, I’d adore this book. I know that sounds like barely a positive, but it’s true that I thought this was awesome until the twists.
Minor: Religious bigotry and Transphobia
moodreadererin'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? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Racism
Minor: Medical content, Car accident, and Infertility
mx_eyebrows's review against another edition
From the jump there is a lot of mention about the main character being Christian, and the two other adult main characters being atheist. We are banged over the head with it on several occasions. It just feels icky, like you're getting reminded that atheists are bad people subtly, over and over. And wouldn’t you know, the Christian ends up to be the hero and the Atheists are bad people. Of course.
Then, we get a plot point/twist using gender identity that I found to be very problematic.</spoiler>
There are many other plot points that are introduced and then not mentioned again until the very end, and didn’t even need to be there. And, a lot of confusing or stupid decisions by characters. Just a trope filled mess.
My advice is to not waste your time.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, and Body shaming
cody's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Addiction
parasolcrafter'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Religious bigotry
bakerreads's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Car accident, Racism, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol and Religious bigotry