1.01k reviews for:

Yours for the Taking

Gabrielle Korn

3.74 AVERAGE

chelsinpdx's review against another edition

3.5

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

alrauna's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark reflective 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

flaviadeer's review against another edition

3.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

snuggleskunk's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional 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

hann17's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional funny sad fast-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

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I loved this book and the story but it also felt a little one dimensional at times which I’d why I rated it below four stars, but I couldn’t put it down the whole time I was reading. I feel like I wanted more descriptive writing (which tbh I feel like that’s a lot of character growth for myself bc I used to be absolutely a plot girlie). I do wish we got more at the end to wrap up the story.

I also didn’t find parts of it believable like when

all of Octavia’s employees agree with her and not a single one dissents and they decided so quickly that Octavia will lead them at the end

alex_nz's review against another edition

3.5

dark sad fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

nachofunk's review against another edition

2.0

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jessisimpson's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional 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

amarchetta's review against another edition

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I was put off by the heavy handed messaging throughout the book to the point where I questioned whether it was satirical at the start. I thought the characters might transform into people holding more nuance in their opinions and that the lack of subtlety would shift as they developed their political consciousness. That did not really happen. There was always a sentence that would spell out whatever message was associated with the scene.

"She vowed never to lose sight of her mother's love again." Just so redundant after a whole scene examining their relationship and her choice to leave.

 

I think the setup and ideas explored are really interesting, but we skipped like 25 years of what this society actually ended up looking like? I think maybe this tried to tackle too many issues and ended up being more shallow than the author anticipated. The author did not really contend with what day-to-day existence in this society would look or feel like. Ava just behaves robotically and goes from work to home. Somehow

there were no deaths or assaults or sexual violence that whole time? That seems genuinely impossible. People are having sex all the time in this place and people are still people who have power over each other. It's wild not to contend with this because it feels like the author has not really engaged with what it would mean to create this society beyond the gender stuff.

 

The characters felt pretty flat, mostly making decisions that were convenient for the plot, not necessarily motivated by some internal sense of reason. Also, the way that some characters interacted and met through the story, but not all of them, was a confusing choice to me as a reader. Ava's journey through motherhood was incredibly jarring to me and felt mishandled. This woman was

forcibly impregnated without her knowledge and we just focus on how much she loves her kids?? and how large her maternal instinct has grown? I feel like the trauma of forced birth is wildly underrepresented here which is strange considering the feminist focus of the novel and the other discussions surrounding reproductive autonomy. And in all the reflection on cycle-breaking and motherhood at the end of the novel, she doesn't even grapple with the forced pregnancy and the 2nd baby she was forced to birth Even though it would be top of mind because she just learned about it. Just so strange.

I think this whole book could have used more rounds of editing to tighten up the story, the pacing, the writing. 

brendenwong's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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