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rynaissanceenby's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I have really mixed feelings about this book. I think the most important thing to know going into it is that it's problematic in a lot of ways, but the intention is to sort of dismantle the misconceptions that lead to those problematic takes. The problem is that it takes way too long to do that, and even once it gets there, it leans too hard into the misconceptions. It makes them feel like reasonable ways to think.
I also felt that a lot of interpersonal relationships felt unrealistic, but this might be a product of my relatively sheltered upbringing. At several points I found myself thinking, "This is ridiculous, nobody would ever get into a physical fight over this" or thoughts along those same lines, but the reality is that I don't understand why anyone would get into a physical altercation over just about anything. So maybe that's just my white suburbia upbringing talking.
Finally, I found the sci-fi-ish premise to be really dissatisfying. We were simultaneously given too many and too few details in order for me to sustain my disbelief. The basic idea is that Lateo can bury specific memories for you, but the idea that memories rarely resurface even with the triggers of being in familiar surroundings where the original memories happened is just a bit too far fetched for me. The pacing of this part of the narrative was a bit odd too. Lateo was hardly mentioned at all in the first half of the book, and it was absolutely crucial to the second half of the book. I think a little more foreshadowing would have done this book well.
All that being said, I considered DNFing this one, but it did get better in the second half, so I think it was worth my time. Especially since it was an audiobook, so I listened to it while cooking.
On that note, I felt that the choice of audiobook narrator was questionable. This story is told from the perspective of teenagers, and having a middle-aged dude narrate it...did not sound right. Furthermore, the voices the narrator did for the different characters were spotty. I was expecting to be able to tell who was talking from the different sorts of cadences and accents he was giving the different characters, but, especially when two characters were having a back and forth dialogue, their voices started blurring together and it go difficult to tell them apart.
I also felt that a lot of interpersonal relationships felt unrealistic, but this might be a product of my relatively sheltered upbringing. At several points I found myself thinking, "This is ridiculous, nobody would ever get into a physical fight over this" or thoughts along those same lines, but the reality is that I don't understand why anyone would get into a physical altercation over just about anything. So maybe that's just my white suburbia upbringing talking.
Finally, I found the sci-fi-ish premise to be really dissatisfying. We were simultaneously given too many and too few details in order for me to sustain my disbelief. The basic idea is that Lateo can bury specific memories for you, but the idea that memories rarely resurface even with the triggers of being in familiar surroundings where the original memories happened is just a bit too far fetched for me. The pacing of this part of the narrative was a bit odd too. Lateo was hardly mentioned at all in the first half of the book, and it was absolutely crucial to the second half of the book. I think a little more foreshadowing would have done this book well.
All that being said, I considered DNFing this one, but it did get better in the second half, so I think it was worth my time. Especially since it was an audiobook, so I listened to it while cooking.
On that note, I felt that the choice of audiobook narrator was questionable. This story is told from the perspective of teenagers, and having a middle-aged dude narrate it...did not sound right. Furthermore, the voices the narrator did for the different characters were spotty. I was expecting to be able to tell who was talking from the different sorts of cadences and accents he was giving the different characters, but, especially when two characters were having a back and forth dialogue, their voices started blurring together and it go difficult to tell them apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Hate crime
Minor: Racism
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