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icarusandthesun's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
this book was so badly written that it was actually quite funny. it made me physically cringe more times than i can count (for lines such as "you are a very bad girl, juliette" shudder) which is terrible, but also better than feeling completely indifferent to a book in my opinion.
the middle partwhere they escaped and crashed at adam's for a while was horrendously boring. people got shot and hurt here and there and yet i didn't care about any of it. if you take a look at the trigger warnings, you'll see lots of death and murder and blood but just know that every brutal thing that happened felt anticlimactic and shallow.
i was also not a fan of the whole "she's the only girl among hundreds of touch-starved men and forced to wear skimpy clothing" trope that basically carried the whole first half of the book. it was silly how obsessed everyone seemed to be with her, and how "hot" everyone thought she was even though she was literally rotting in a cell for more than 250 days with only one meal a day and nearly no means to hygiene. who are you kidding?
i also didn't buy the romance at all.adam and her never said a word to each other during their school days together, but they were still secretely in love with each other? because adam was the only one who looked at her like she was an ACTUAL HUMAN BEING?? (woah, and they say romance is dead🥴đź¤)
and he fell in love with her because she was, uh, nice? because she gave up her seat to some girl on the bus? man, those two really are a low ass bar.
and you know a book is bad when the mysogynist side-character is the funniest guy in the book...
the action sequences were absolute bullshit, too. not them literally dodging bullets LMAO and "our movements made it hard for them to aim at us". girl what-
you're a slow ahh human being and not the flash, what are you on about...
if i were warner i'd fire all of the soldiers because a 15-year-old who's played ONE round of cod or valorant would be better at shooting than those nerds.
so yeah, needless to say, 80% of this book was teenage girl fantasy nonsense. i didn't hate the ending though. the whole concept—the worldbuilding—has potential. i'm just sad this potential didn't reveal itself until the very end. but i've heard people say the sequels are better, so maybe......
the middle part
i was also not a fan of the whole "she's the only girl among hundreds of touch-starved men and forced to wear skimpy clothing" trope that basically carried the whole first half of the book. it was silly how obsessed everyone seemed to be with her, and how "hot" everyone thought she was even though she was literally rotting in a cell for more than 250 days with only one meal a day and nearly no means to hygiene. who are you kidding?
i also didn't buy the romance at all.
and he fell in love with her because she was, uh, nice? because she gave up her seat to some girl on the bus? man, those two really are a low ass bar.
and you know a book is bad when the mysogynist side-character is the funniest guy in the book...
the action sequences were absolute bullshit, too. not them literally dodging bullets LMAO and "our movements made it hard for them to aim at us". girl what-
you're a slow ahh human being and not the flash, what are you on about...
if i were warner i'd fire all of the soldiers because a 15-year-old who's played ONE round of cod or valorant would be better at shooting than those nerds.
so yeah, needless to say, 80% of this book was teenage girl fantasy nonsense. i didn't hate the ending though. the whole concept—the worldbuilding—has potential. i'm just sad this potential didn't reveal itself until the very end. but i've heard people say the sequels are better, so maybe......
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Confinement, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Torture
justcallmeemily's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I read this book in 5 1/2 hours, and I physically couldn't put it down. From start to finish, it was addicting. It has everything my soul has been wanting for the past 2 months. I haven't wanted to binge read a book like this since I was a child.
It has everything I ever wanted from a book; superpowers, dystopian world, realistic romance, and she doesn't immediately fall for the guy who forces her to almost kill someone, several times, including a baby. And is unhealthily obsessed with her.
I obviously can't wait to find out why people are so in love with a particular character. But oh my god, it's such a breath of fresh air. I'm also so glad to see that not even characters I hate make me hate the book. Actually, those characters make the book even more fun to read because of how well written they are.
It has everything I ever wanted from a book; superpowers, dystopian world, realistic romance, and she doesn't immediately fall for the guy who
I obviously can't wait to find out why people are so in love with a particular character. But oh my god, it's such a breath of fresh air. I'm also so glad to see that not even characters I hate make me hate the book. Actually, those characters make the book even more fun to read because of how well written they are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent and War
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Murder, War, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
l_butterflies777's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
This was an amazing book that I could barely bring myself to put down with dystopian themes and lines that will pull at your heartstrings. I would definitely recommend reading this! I’m am definitely going to get the series as soon as I have a chance to!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Torture
Minor: War, Violence, and Torture
This author explains everything that the main character is seeing in detail including graphic injuries.eggfartz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Child death, War, Blood, and Torture
foxo_cube's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I feel kind of unsure how to rate this. Essentially, the story itself didn't do much for me, but I found it really compelling - I wanted to keep reading it and I was a bit disappointed to come to the end.
I love the writing style. I think it does very well at bringing the reader into the chaos and intensity of Juliette's mind as a traumatised, terrified teenager, and the writing becomes more or less frantic with her emotions. Oddly, there is a note at the start of the book explaining this narrative technique, which I can't blame the writer for because it's just as, if not more, likely to have been the publisher's idea. Bit of a shame, though - like explaining the punchline to a joke. Nonetheless, I think that's what drew me in to the narrative: the way that Juliette's feelings are expressed is lovely and makes her feel more human.
The romance with Adam was okay. I think it's a bit weird that he found out he could touch her unharmed because he was caressing her in her sleep when she was having nightmares, but his feelings for her come off as sincere. I think she genuinely loves him but sometimes I couldn't help but think that surely, affection from nearly anyone will feel amazing and that could make her <i>think</i> she's in love even if she isn't. I mean, you only have to look at her weirdly conflicting emotions towards War Criminal Warner to see that.
Ah, yes, War Criminal Warner. He's a pervert and a pathetic nepotism baby and likes to kill people for fun. He turns up to be emotionally abusive and sexually inappropriate towards Juliette, intending on grooming her into his weapon/consort. She inexplicably still thinks he's hot. Sometimes, it feels like this book is resisting the urge to become Baby's First Dark Romance and go down his route.Towards the end, when she and Adam have escaped and later get caught, Warner has found out he can also touch her without being hurt, and so starts being even more handsy than usual. She spots a gun in his inside coat pocket and decides to go with it despite her discomfort just long enough to get the gun and shoot him, which is a bit of a girlboss move. So he's making out with her and picking her up by the arse and all this and she starts off being "ew yucky nasty Warner, this isn't my One and Only True Love Adam" and then thinks "...actually, I'm kinda into this". What??? I know that sort of thing is a trope in dark romance as a genre, but that is one of the reasons I do not read dark romance. The whole "this is sexual assault but actually I like it" thing is just gross to me. If you're into it as a fantasy and within the constrains of fiction, I can't stop you, but it's not my cup of tea at <i>all</i>. Although I see how Adam can be viewed as a bit bland (he is), Warner is, like, bland with a bit of black pepper. I have a soft spot for pathetic men and for crazy sadistic characters, albeit typically not in romance, but he's just not very sexy about it. He's just a bit sad, to me. I don't care if his eyes are light green or whatever.
Juliette is incredibly horny in general. It's kind of funny sometimes. She'll experience the most traumatising shit you can think of and then Adam will touch her arms and she'll be like "oh YEAH babey". To be fair, though, she is the most touch-starved person of all time, so maybe that's not that weird.
This isn't a criticism, but a thing I noticed that I found strange. So, Juliette has been given maybe one small meal a day for the best part of a year, and presumably must be terribly underweight and look like she's on death's door. Even after eating normally for a couple of weeks, she's probably not looking exactly healthy. That's whatever in itself, that's just the nature of being imprisoned in an inhumane asylum. But there're consistent reminders of how tiny and little and small Juliette is that... well, it kind of gave me the ick. Look, I've got a height complex three times my size, so I'm not a fan of big height differences personally. I don't want to feel even shorter than I am. But with the context meaning she's probably very very skinny and frail <i>as well</i>, it made me a bit uncomfy. I don't know if this is just a straight woman thing that I don't get, a romance trope that I wouldn't have come across, or if the writer has a mild macro/micro kink that's coming through or what, which is why, even if I didn't like it, I don't mean it as critique. It just stood out to me.
The ending left more questions than answers because it's part of a series. That's fair.Still, I like that she found a community with other people with powers similar to hers. I think that's cool. I don't know if I'll read the other books, though. I'm kind of happy imagining that she lived safe and happily with Adam and it's all okay now, but then it <i>was</i> a fun book to read even if my review probably comes across as miserable so hey, we'll see!
I love the writing style. I think it does very well at bringing the reader into the chaos and intensity of Juliette's mind as a traumatised, terrified teenager, and the writing becomes more or less frantic with her emotions. Oddly, there is a note at the start of the book explaining this narrative technique, which I can't blame the writer for because it's just as, if not more, likely to have been the publisher's idea. Bit of a shame, though - like explaining the punchline to a joke. Nonetheless, I think that's what drew me in to the narrative: the way that Juliette's feelings are expressed is lovely and makes her feel more human.
The romance with Adam was okay. I think it's a bit weird that he found out he could touch her unharmed because he was caressing her in her sleep when she was having nightmares, but his feelings for her come off as sincere. I think she genuinely loves him but sometimes I couldn't help but think that surely, affection from nearly anyone will feel amazing and that could make her <i>think</i> she's in love even if she isn't. I mean, you only have to look at her weirdly conflicting emotions towards War Criminal Warner to see that.
Ah, yes, War Criminal Warner. He's a pervert and a pathetic nepotism baby and likes to kill people for fun. He turns up to be emotionally abusive and sexually inappropriate towards Juliette, intending on grooming her into his weapon/consort. She inexplicably still thinks he's hot. Sometimes, it feels like this book is resisting the urge to become Baby's First Dark Romance and go down his route.
Juliette is incredibly horny in general. It's kind of funny sometimes. She'll experience the most traumatising shit you can think of and then Adam will touch her arms and she'll be like "oh YEAH babey". To be fair, though, she is the most touch-starved person of all time, so maybe that's not that weird.
This isn't a criticism, but a thing I noticed that I found strange. So, Juliette has been given maybe one small meal a day for the best part of a year, and presumably must be terribly underweight and look like she's on death's door. Even after eating normally for a couple of weeks, she's probably not looking exactly healthy. That's whatever in itself, that's just the nature of being imprisoned in an inhumane asylum. But there're consistent reminders of how tiny and little and small Juliette is that... well, it kind of gave me the ick. Look, I've got a height complex three times my size, so I'm not a fan of big height differences personally. I don't want to feel even shorter than I am. But with the context meaning she's probably very very skinny and frail <i>as well</i>, it made me a bit uncomfy. I don't know if this is just a straight woman thing that I don't get, a romance trope that I wouldn't have come across, or if the writer has a mild macro/micro kink that's coming through or what, which is why, even if I didn't like it, I don't mean it as critique. It just stood out to me.
The ending left more questions than answers because it's part of a series. That's fair.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Violence, and War
lizzye33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Emotional abuse, Body horror, War, Medical content, and Police brutality
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Torture, Child abuse, and Genocide
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I've been putting this series off for so long, but I've finally decided to give in to the hype and see what it was about. And now I'm finished I can understand how this series has garnered intrigue. I think the first book was a nice little introduction to the world and provide just enough level of mystery Like how can Adam touch Juliette? How can Warner? What does that mean? How do some people in their world have supernatural abilities? Will Juliette see her parents again? What happened to Adam's parents? And Kenji's? How did their world get like this? And most importantly how does Warner become Juliette's future love interest? and suspense for the reader to want to continue.
Also, I don't know if it was because I haven't read fantasy-type books since I was in grade school, but it was kind of hard to visualize some of the settings in their world.
And I can't help but confess that I'm curious about the Aaron Warner hype that has been circling the internet and that has become the centerpiece of this series. Because of what I've been reading so far I couldn't imagine how things could turn around. He literally forced himself on her (trying to kiss her). Forcing her to love him and be his secret weapon of destruction. And as of right now, he's trying to kill her. I just can't fathom how he's gonna be her future love interest.
Also, I don't know if it was because I haven't read fantasy-type books since I was in grade school, but it was kind of hard to visualize some of the settings in their world.
And I can't help but confess that I'm curious about the Aaron Warner hype that has been circling the internet and that has become the centerpiece of this series. Because of what I've been reading so far I couldn't imagine how things could turn around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Classism, and Blood
Minor: War, Ableism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Medical content, and Child abuse
memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed this book - almost gave it 5 stars. I enjoyed the fact that the book and pages were more chaotic at the beginning and eased off throughout the book to reflect her mental state. The depictions of her loneliness and desperation to be touched were heartbreaking. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Death, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, Torture, Body horror, Medical content, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Sexual content, War, Cursing, Excrement, and Animal cruelty
jcsmith95's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and War