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bea_g_i's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Bullying, Dysphoria, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
jcxjab's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
wow major trigger warning for sexual assault!
this book was so interesting and i wish i could rank it higher because i liked the premise for the most part. at times it became a bit much but i’m not the target audience for this anymore. I liked Pens character, she’s reflective of a special group of lesbians who encoure homophobia, misogyny, and transphobia for being traditionally butch. this brings up issues w her parents, mainly her mom, emphasizing a relationship between an immigrant mother a daughter. something many lesbians can identify with. her so called guy best friend colby represents every cishet white man. he sexually assaults her. this causes Pen to make some alterations to her appearance so that he doesn’t view her as female. after cutting her hair a lot of issues arise. but she does catch the eye of a girl blake who likes her but says something to the effect of “i like guys but i like when girls are better guys” DISGUSTING!!! horrible choice here, completely invalidating but Pen didn’t mind.
I had a hard time understanding their ages too. The age of 12 gets mentioned so often but Pen has pretty complex thoughts, so maybe 16?
i’m not sure. however, this book would’ve been good for me in high school. the language was clean and easy but there were several strange homophobic and misogynistic moments too. one thing i wish the author did was address pen’s sexual assault. it was brushed off to be so casual but the extent of it was so severe. it was not okay to glaze over. and also i understand the point but it didn’t feel like it was needed to get a point across
this book was so interesting and i wish i could rank it higher because i liked the premise for the most part. at times it became a bit much but i’m not the target audience for this anymore. I liked Pens character, she’s reflective of a special group of lesbians who encoure homophobia, misogyny, and transphobia for being traditionally butch. this brings up issues w her parents, mainly her mom, emphasizing a relationship between an immigrant mother a daughter. something many lesbians can identify with. her so called guy best friend colby represents every cishet white man. he sexually assaults her. this causes Pen to make some alterations to her appearance so that he doesn’t view her as female. after cutting her hair a lot of issues arise. but she does catch the eye of a girl blake who likes her but says something to the effect of “i like guys but i like when girls are better guys” DISGUSTING!!! horrible choice here, completely invalidating but Pen didn’t mind.
I had a hard time understanding their ages too. The age of 12 gets mentioned so often but Pen has pretty complex thoughts, so maybe 16?
i’m not sure. however, this book would’ve been good for me in high school. the language was clean and easy but there were several strange homophobic and misogynistic moments too. one thing i wish the author did was address pen’s sexual assault. it was brushed off to be so casual but the extent of it was so severe. it was not okay to glaze over. and also i understand the point but it didn’t feel like it was needed to get a point across
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Homophobia, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Bullying
Minor: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Transphobia
werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Transphobia
Moderate: Bullying, Abortion, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
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