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sydmidd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
lunep's review
dark
mysterious
tense
- 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
It was gripping but the characters were flat, I didn't care for any of them, the whole magic thing came out of nowhere and felt weird (and hopefully it gets explained on the second book because it wasn't on this one), and the representation was done very poorly: Ella's "OCD" is nothing like real OCD, Rory, Nani and Yuki's sexualities felt very stereotypical, and Yuki being so cold and emotionless is a harmful aroace stereotype, far from the truth (even tho it can be explained by the fact that she was been brought up to be perfect, perfect can still show emotions), and while I don't think the author was trying to say trans people are beasts, making the only trans character The Beast/Adam from Beauty and the Beast was still a poor choice (because we see that the characters and their stories from the book aren't modern versions of their fairy-tale counterparts that follow exactly the same paths, like Micaeli, I think what the author wanted to do was make Svenja's transition represent Adam going back to his real form after being freed from the witch's curse, without being literal to the story and making it all "oh I found love and that's what made me strong enough to be my true self"). I'm debating between reading the second one (partly because I'm a scaredy cat and this made me sleep with my lights on lmao) and just finding the most spoilery review possible to find out what happens
Content Warnings
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
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
I was enjoying this, but then as the story started developing some things weren't feeling right to me. So this is kind of a fantasy retelling. We have a Cinderella (Ella), an Aurora (Rory), and a Beauty (Nani).
We also have a Beast, which in this situation, the author chose to make a trans character the Beast and that doesn't sit right with me at all.
The author also chose to lean into racist stereotypes and gave Nani, a half Black/half Native Hawaiian character, a father that is never around.
She then also decided to give a character a anxiety disorder, but then was not consistent with treatment or signs of the disorder.
We also have a Beast, which in this situation, the author chose to make a trans character the Beast and that doesn't sit right with me at all.
The author also chose to lean into racist stereotypes and gave Nani, a half Black/half Native Hawaiian character, a father that is never around.
She then also decided to give a character a anxiety disorder, but then was not consistent with treatment or signs of the disorder.
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia and Racism
aiplusyou's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
this book was way more pretty little liars and less fairytale than i expected. to be clear, this is not a bad thing! i think the main mystery and everything is extremely compelling and the book is excellent, but just be aware that it's very much mystery first, fairtytale second.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Transphobia
jekisah's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
There were some typos but overall it is a great story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Racism, Death of parent, Suicide, and Mental illness
scrubsandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The premise absolutely drew me in. These characters are basically stand-ins for popular fairytales and find themselves meeting the fates of their stories in some serious dark ways and the main characters have to figure out what is going on, all in the setting of a boarding school. And there are a slew of sapphic storylines. This whole thing read like my own catnip!
Why the rating is so low then? Well for starters, it was possibly the most stereotypical and offensive depiction of "severe OCD" in the main character. The trans character is a stand-in for the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. The ace-aro character is the Asian character who is also dealing with pressures of being perfect academically and personally, and comes off as cold and heartless many times. There was so much potential for this story, but the terrible depictions of representation overshadowed a lot of it. Read at your own risk, I guess. I did end up getting the sequel from Netgalley before I had finished the first book so I will likely read it and see how it fares in comparison to this one.
Why the rating is so low then? Well for starters, it was possibly the most stereotypical and offensive depiction of "severe OCD" in the main character. The trans character is a stand-in for the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. The ace-aro character is the Asian character who is also dealing with pressures of being perfect academically and personally, and comes off as cold and heartless many times. There was so much potential for this story, but the terrible depictions of representation overshadowed a lot of it. Read at your own risk, I guess. I did end up getting the sequel from Netgalley before I had finished the first book so I will likely read it and see how it fares in comparison to this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Transphobia, Ableism, and Chronic illness
sinaprst's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I didn't have to high expectations going into this, but I really enjoyed this. Sure there were things that probably could've been handled better and the ending was kinda predictable, but overall I liked pretty much all of the characters and especially the four narrators.
I also now crush on all of the characters love interests, because I have a problem.
The book is written from four perspectives and all of the chapters are fairly short. I saw some people on here criticizing that, which I somewhat get, but still disagree with. I don't really know why but short chapters especially and also switching povs are things that I at least look for in a book, because long chapters scare me, but that's a me thing I guess, so everyone is different in that regard.
The whole vibe of the book gave pretty much dark academia which I loved and it also very much reminds me of pretty little liars (which I also love, even though it gets more and more unhinged from season to season), so this was right up my alley.
I have to say though the magic came kind of out of the blue for me and I hope it gets established more in the next book. Also I was kind if disappointed that there were mostly European fairytales in there, that even though, that they were darker then the Disney versions, felt kind of Disney-ish, I kind of hoped to have each of the girls have the faith of a fairytale from their country/culture, especially because the whole boarding has students from all over the world.
Lastly, I also wished it was even darker and especially creepier, but maybe that will come in the next one, now that the girls know what's going on.
Regarding the villain of this book, I really liked her, but then again I'm biased because I always have a thing for bad girls. You could kind of see it coming though, who was supposed to be the bad guy. But I'm very much intrigued to see, who will be the big bad guy now, after she died, because obviously there is still more to everything than we as the reader know right now.
Overall, this was far from perfect, but enjoyable nonetheless and I will definitely pick up the next book in this series, because I desperately need answers.
I also now crush on all of the characters love interests, because I have a problem.
The book is written from four perspectives and all of the chapters are fairly short. I saw some people on here criticizing that, which I somewhat get, but still disagree with. I don't really know why but short chapters especially and also switching povs are things that I at least look for in a book, because long chapters scare me, but that's a me thing I guess, so everyone is different in that regard.
The whole vibe of the book gave pretty much dark academia which I loved and it also very much reminds me of pretty little liars (which I also love, even though it gets more and more unhinged from season to season), so this was right up my alley.
I have to say though the magic came kind of out of the blue for me and I hope it gets established more in the next book. Also I was kind if disappointed that there were mostly European fairytales in there, that even though, that they were darker then the Disney versions, felt kind of Disney-ish, I kind of hoped to have each of the girls have the faith of a fairytale from their country/culture, especially because the whole boarding has students from all over the world.
Lastly, I also wished it was even darker and especially creepier, but maybe that will come in the next one, now that the girls know what's going on.
Regarding the villain of this book, I really liked her, but then again I'm biased because I always have a thing for bad girls. You could kind of see it coming though, who was supposed to be the bad guy. But I'm very much intrigued to see, who will be the big bad guy now, after she died, because obviously there is still more to everything than we as the reader know right now.
Overall, this was far from perfect, but enjoyable nonetheless and I will definitely pick up the next book in this series, because I desperately need answers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Gore
saltair_andtherust_onyourdoor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think the concept was super interesting but it could’ve definitely been executed in a better way. Like i wanted to know the stories of some other characters more. For example Micalis story would’ve been so fun to read about even with her death it was so interesting also i feel like some storylines weren’t finished. Hopefully the sequel makes up for its.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide and Physical abuse
Minor: Transphobia
maev_e's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Fatphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Classism, Xenophobia, and Transphobia
Very stereotypical Asian and aro-ace rep, some lesbian stereotypes, annoying & random pop/ internet culture referencessammymilfort's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I don’t have words for this book and honestly it’s not even the writing style that I dislike the most. There were parts I enjoyed, but ultimately this book has two things a load of queerbaiting and a plot that could have been great if it was constructed more and given depth. I loved the fairytale aspect and the physical disability rep was ok! There was one part that had super ableist undertones in my opinion when Rory was in the coffee shop and I did not like that. This book had so many things going for it I was sure I was going to rate it a 3 or 3.5 but then I got to the last 20% and all I felt was anger.
I could make a whole video about my problems with this book
1. I really dislike Yuki’s character and even her arc and place in the story felt out of place. She had really mean moments and I get she’s a teenager but like the way of how she was so possessive about her friends I could not stand. I petition to make Yuki the villain in the next book please, at least that might make things interesting. If I was Ella I would not forgive her so easily and it made me so upset when she did!! But it’s true to her character so…
I liked Nani and Ella
Does anyone know if Ella is demisexual because I love! I know Rory is demiromantic
Might read the sequel, might not
ALSO THE FACT THAT THE STRAIGHT RELATIONSHIP GOT THE MOST DEVELOPMENT OUT OF ALL THE QUEER PARINGS MADE ME SO MAD AND IT WAS SURFACE LEVEL DEVELOPED AT BEST.
TW: Queerbaiting, Emotional Manipulation and Abuse, Neglect, Murder
I could make a whole video about my problems with this book
1. I really dislike Yuki’s character and even her arc and place in the story felt out of place. She had really mean moments and I get she’s a teenager but like the way of how she was so possessive about her friends I could not stand. I petition to make Yuki the villain in the next book please, at least that might make things interesting. If I was Ella I would not forgive her so easily and it made me so upset when she did!! But it’s true to her character so…
I liked Nani and Ella
Does anyone know if Ella is demisexual because I love! I know Rory is demiromantic
Might read the sequel, might not
ALSO THE FACT THAT THE STRAIGHT RELATIONSHIP GOT THE MOST DEVELOPMENT OUT OF ALL THE QUEER PARINGS MADE ME SO MAD AND IT WAS SURFACE LEVEL DEVELOPED AT BEST.
TW: Queerbaiting, Emotional Manipulation and Abuse, Neglect, Murder
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia
Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
I don’t have words for this book and honestly it’s not even the writing style that I dislike the most. There were parts I enjoyed, but ultimately this book has two things a load of queerbaiting and a plot that could have been great if it was constructed more and given depth. I loved the fairytale aspect and the physical disability rep was ok! There was one part that had super ableist undertones in my opinion when Rory was in the coffee shop and I did not like that. This book had so many things going for it I was sure I was going to rate it a 3 or 3.5 but then I got to the last 20% and all I felt was anger. I could make a whole video about my problems with this book 1. I really dislike Yuki’s character and even her arc and place in the story felt out of place. She had really mean moments and I get she’s a teenager but like the way of how she was so possessive about her friends I could not stand. I petition to make Yuki the villain in the next book please, at least that might make things interesting. If I was Ella I would not forgive her so easily and it made me so upset when she did!! But it’s true to her character so… I liked Nani and Ella Does anyone know if Ella is demisexual because I love! I know Rory is demiromantic Might read the sequel, might not ALSO THE FACT THAT THE STRAIGHT RELATIONSHIP GOT THE MOST DEVELOPMENT OUT OF ALL THE QUEER PARINGS MADE ME SO MAD AND IT WAS SURFACE LEVEL DEVELOPED AT BEST. TW: Queerbaiting, Emotional Manipulation and Abuse, Neglect, Murder