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anapthine'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity and Vomit
katiewhocanread's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Car accident
supernova_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War
extinctpanda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Transphobia and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Outing, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
grrrlbrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and War
Minor: Eating disorder, Racism, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Dysphoria
wyrmbergsabrina'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
4.25
Meet five friends (yes, I'm not miscounting) who have, as time has passed, drifted a little. They are still (mostly) friends, but they're older now and we all know being friends as teenage girls is never quite the same once you pass 25. And they are all witches. So far, straight forward.
But then there's this prophecy looming, end of the world stuff and judgements are made in fear and a lot of the shit that goes down could have been avoided if people weren't well, people. Yes even witches are still human.
There's a lot of talk about women and what that means, and how you are a woman. HMRC is written by Juno Dawson know there's going to be these conversations. And frankly it's handled as you'd expect, really well. Arguments are torn down and anyone reading this would wonder why we still need to say Trans rights, but of course, people are people. And people do shitty things when they don't want to be the ones in the wrong.
Which nicely sums up the last third of this book.
This is the start of a series, and I'm looking forward to where this goes. The current politics are very on the nose; nice dig at the PM (who is never named but we all know who it is) and I'm pretty fond of the main characters already. And this is just the beginning of the big nasty that's been foreseen. (Because oracles always get everything nice and clearly, don't they)
Yes there are some tropes, but all good books have them (that's why they are used) The pop culture references are there, but I've read a lot more in other books, and frankly, this is my generation being written about. I was that 16 year old singing along to Say You'll Be There. It was our short hand to life, and that's what it's in here as, recording a moment between friends, a moment in our lives when things were simpler.
Over all I really enjoyed HMRC. How close this world is to our own, how it could easily be real, right now. The friendships between the women feel real (remember they aren't teens) yes we do behave like this, but the world of sisterhood felt special, something that we should really be aiming for in our world. And maybe that's why I'm going through a witch phase. I want the support of my sisters in the world.
Anyway, HMRC, bottom line - enjoyable, political, building up.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Outing, and War
Minor: Emotional abuse and Infidelity