Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Hurricane Child

I feel like this book should've been longer. I know it's Middle Grade, so I guess that maybe I want and expect too much, I just felt like the issues with the love interest and the mom and the powers all didn't get enough time to fully flourish. But I loved this concept. This is definitely a book I would recommend!

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kat_smith24's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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hannahcomer4d's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

2.5

I wanted to like this book. It had some interesting elements--a desire to search for a missing mother, mysterious figures no one else can see, subtle commentary on island life. However, the book never leaned fully into one theme or element, which left me feeling unsatisfied. It was as if the book dipped its toes into multiple pools and couldn't ever decide which one to jump into.

Perhaps the bigger problem is that the main character isn't very interesting. She doesn't have any hobbies. She complains for most of the book. She doesn't seem to love anything other than one person she just met and is now obsessed with. Her personality seems to just be bitter and stubborn. Perhaps this is very realistic for twelve-year-old girls, but it gets old fast when that's the only voice you hear.

Still, the interesting elements I mentioned earlier kept me going.

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bookbuyingwithkatie's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

3.5

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whatbreeread's review

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4.0

one thing abt a middle grade book, the antagonist will move away😭. anyway this book was rly good. the only thing i didn’t get was the big reveal.

i get that caroline’s mom felt stuck and depressed and needed a change of pace i just don’t get why she never made an effort to reconcile when she felt she was in a better headspace and i don’t feel like that was addressed properly

other than that i enjoyed caroline as a main character. it’s rly hard being a 12 year old and watching your whole life change around you and feeling like you can’t do anything abt it. i wish i could’ve read this book when i was her age because i related to her in so many ways

i also adored the puppy love between caroline and kalinda. i wish they could’ve gotten a real chance but i guess that’s life lol

the pre-teens are very delicate years and black kids aren’t given nearly enough grace to figure themselves out because they’re almost never taken seriously. this book tells that story. it’s a great read for the kids (adults too!)

beautiful writing. beautiful story. i loved every minute of it

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thelittlebookstore's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.5

I didn't want this book to end. I was so torn about the way things played out but I absolutely loved the journey. I'm a sucker for anything magical realism, and I'm partial to Caribbean storytelling. I was rooting for Caroline the entire time. She deserves all the love and care in the world, but unfortunately she was frequently met with the ugliest parts of humanity. This coming of age story took me through a wave of emotions as the plot developed and the main characters relationship evolved. This book made me a forever fan of Callender and I can't wait to read their other novels.

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readlexread's review against another edition

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This was such a lovely yet kind of heartbreaking book. I haven’t read a middle grade chapter book since I was a child and wow, this was good! I liked the style and appreciated how the author navigated themes/concepts like parental abandonment, loss, school dynamics (read: mean girls) and self-discovery from a 12-year-old’s perspective. I can honestly see how I could have used (and in some ways needed) this book at that age!

Be mindful of CWs!

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bluberrybooks's review

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adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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