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lunep's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Transphobia, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Deadnaming, and Mental illness
itshardizzy'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
3.5
the book was very good and I've finished really fast. I really liked how complex the MCs are and how they aren't perfect and have real problems. The book deals with a lot of things, but mostly with grief and with finding ones trueself. It was PLL meets Brothers Grimm but make it Sapphic (and I loved it).
the characters are all relatable and they have real struggles and not just rich people problems. the author really succeed in blend the personal problems of the characters with the main plot and in showing that in the end they are all teenagers that still haven't figure out life. even the side characters have well constructed background and problems that aren't connected with the MCs. and the relationships where really natural and really comfortable to follow.
the plot is very interesting and i saw how PLL heavily influenced the author, literally there was times where I was "am i reading PLL?". there was clues well hidden everywhere and it was fun to put the pieces together.
one thing that I want to talk about is the diversity in here. Although it is a school for the rich and privilege, we also have a few special cases like Ella and Nani, but I didn't really think they tackled those privileges as well as the author could. what the author did well - in my opinion - is to display LGBTQ+ characters without that being the main focus of their stories, being gay is treated normally and that was awesome; but that doesn't mean the author didn't explore the struggles that comes with being yourself and that shows thru Yuki and Svenja.
honestly this was a great read, but there was a few parts where i was like ???
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Self harm
Minor: Racism and Transphobia
beforeviolets's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A thrilling retelling of classic fairytales filled with twists, magic, and just the right amount of darkness. Think Disney Princesses turned dark academia.
The first two-thirds of this book really struggled with the pacing. It dragged SO MUCH and I don't know if it was an attempt to counteract the feeling of over-exposition or in order to build tension, but either way it made it hard to read and made me almost DNF this read a few times.
HOWEVER, the last third of this book was SO MUCH FUN! It was riveting, properly gorey and spooky and magical in the way I was expecting this entire book to be. It just sucked that I had to get through so much of the text before I was able to experience it.
This book was promised with a lot of diversity, however, there was quite a bit of problematic representation which I will explain below.
(Minor spoilers ahead)
The Asian character struggles with parental pressure to be the very best and have perfect grades and be the perfect daughter.
There is a character who is very clearly the "mean masc lesbian" type.
The half-Native, half-Black character's entire plot line is that she has an absent Black father who abandoned her. She is also stereotyped as a "mean lesbian."
One character has OCD and it is introduced by one of the other characters questioning if she had taken her meds. Her opinions and experiences were also constantly doubted or questioned due to her OCD.
The character that is meant to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast has a trans girl as a love interest (insinuating that the trans woman is a beast).
On that note, the trans girl's fairytale retelling is that she is The Ugly Duckling, explicitly stating that as a trans girl, she has become a swan.
Especially seeing a book written by a queer author, it was sad to see the lack of care put into the quality of the diversity.
My lovely friend Jess also discusses the representation, so I would suggest viewing their review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4268785942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
TW:
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, and Suicide