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booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ash and Darian genuinely work well together, I love how their relationship develops. Ash is just as much of an asshole by the end of the book as the start, but he's more sure of himself and more willing to take risks for Darian than it seems like he was for his other friends. Due to his high anxiety, "taking risks" includes, in this case, going to the store, spending the night in the same bed, and being emotionally vulnerable. Neither of them are people it's necessarily easy to be around (Ash moreso than Darian), and that shows up in many different ways.
The ending caught me off guard, especially the incident which precedes it. I was pleasantly surprised by how things end up, but the story lingers in an uncomfortable situation for far longer than I can normally handle reading. Part of what helped is the way the narrative had handled anxiety and tension up until that point, I had built up enough trust in the author that I was able to wait for how things shook out.
Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Biphobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, and Medical trauma
hayamaakito's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
sonygaystation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Gaslighting, Biphobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Homophobia
galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Mental illness, Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Cursing
Minor: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Infidelity, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Eating disorder
pawtory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Please don't take my warnings as comprehensive gospel I probably missed some and may have miscatrgorized too.zarahzoe's review against another edition
1.75
Alexis tends to be quite hit or miss for me, but the hits hit so high that I sometimes have to endure the misses, but... Uhm. Was this ever a miss.
Graphic: Body shaming, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Self harm
Minor: Fatphobia
djm_chal's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
graceheartsbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was interesting to read his debut novel after reading so many others. And maybe because so many of his other works that I’m not really sure how to feel about this one.
I really appreciated how Glitterland covered mental illness and the self loathing you can feel while going through that (especially as someone going through her own mental health journey as I learn to cope with social anxiety). However, I don’t know if I really felt the connection between the two leads but Ash and Darian both grew on me (even if Darian’s accent was a bit distracting to decipher…then again, I am an American and I barely know the distinct differences between British accents let alone American ones lol)
I also really liked the annotations and seeing Alexis Hall’s insights through the writing process—it’s interesting to read about what makes an author tick, you know?
Fair warning: Ash is an unlikable protagonist although unlike a lot unlikable protags, I did not get annoyed by him as much—although I did say aloud ‘Ash no’ when he f’ed something up lol
I do kind of wish we saw some of Darian’s POV. Not that I would’ve expected it because Alexis Hall doesn’t seem to do dual POVs but for some reason, sometimes I wanted to know what Darian was thinking.
I didn’t really have an strong reaction to most of the side characters (I say most because one in particular got on my nerves near the end for reasons I cannot reveal except in a spoiler👀)
Still everyone needs to start somewhere and I appreciate this novel for exsisting because without it would not have a new favorite author to enjoy❤️
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Self harm
esalmon13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Toxic friendship
emrosenq's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Self harm, Alcohol, and Fatphobia
Minor: Biphobia