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lizziaha's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Murder and Panic attacks/disorders
ali_k0's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Outing
zanm's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
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PROS AND CONS
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Pros:
- Nico and Will are adorable and really thrive on healthy communication.
Nico goes to therapy!!! (Not a major plot point but)- I had warm fuzzy feelings at the end of this
- Nico had a nice little character arc about
self-love - Will had a good arc about
accepting Nico's trauma as it is and not fixing it which is a great message to the audience
Cons:
- Long/slow beginning
- Felt Ooc for Nico to
come out to the whole camp even in the way they explained it...and there was an "everybody clapped" moment... - Nico felt Ooc the whole time, really, but what do I know
- Not enough Will backstory!!! Even in chapters in his voice!!!!!
- Mr. D felt Ooc too but, again, what do I know? Tbh his change in character was kind of nice, even if I had to suspend my disbelief about it.
- Random meme references. So many. Too many. I had to keep ignoring them.
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
Minor: War
mackef's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Death, Outing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Grief
rachelditty's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
"'I want what's best for him, and he seems to disappear into his darkness, like he's hiding in a place that doesn't want my light.'
'Then why not offer him your darkness?'" (p. 244).
"...it hurts to hear you talk about [the Underworld] like it's evil. Death isn't evil. It's just... death." (p. 349).
"'Sometimes I have to remind myself of that,' [Nico] said. 'That people did love me when I was younger.'" (p. 374).
"Will had heard love described in so many dramatic, bizarre ways over the years, but no one had described it like this: It's like drifting down a river of pain and knowing you are safe." (p. 432)
"To be alive in the world once more... It is beautiful." (p. 445).
"No one had ever loved him like Will did, and that was no longer terrifying. How could it be? How could acceptance and respect and desire be anything but the best things for Nico?" (p. 461).
"The future held hope. And he clung to it." (p. 462).
Moderate: Body horror, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, and Blood
fanboyriot'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
5.0
He glared at Will. “Really? You’ve never seen the video for ‘Montero’? We’ll address that hole in your education later.” - (chapter 29, page 285)
Graphic: Grief and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Abandonment, War, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
trintrin's review against another edition
- 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
Solangelo making you feel like you're third-wheeling them for 466 pages? Sign me up, please.
The lovey-dovey stuff apart, I love how much this book focuses on both Nico and Will (they're teenagers, mind you) struggling to find who they are while dealing with their trauma. Sure, I love their cute romantic moments,
So did the writing and the general plot deserve five stars? Maybe not, but what can I say, I'm biased towards Nico and he more than deserves it. He finally healed, got some long-awaited closure with his family, has an amazing boyfriend,
TL;DR this is the cutest book I've ever read. It's quite cheesy, sure, but to quote Nico:
'Lay it on me, Will. I'm your grilled cheese'
He stepped over a thorny rock, then squinted at Nico. 'I think your metaphor needs work', he said.
Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Eating disorder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Outing
Minor: Medical content, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
livelaughomo's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Body horror, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia and Outing
ghulsona's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
This entire book read like a middle schooler writing fic, mostly in some of the characterization and humor choices (see: that bit with Mr. D eating popcorn in the beginning when they were about to head out, what was that?!?). We don't reach the advertised main plot point until about the ~3/4 mark of the book, the pacing and stakes were just ridiculous. Also, the mythological beings that the duo encountered were weirdly . . . way nicer than they usually were in prev installations of this series? Like, they weren't as challenging or as difficult to pass as they've been in the other books, which I thought was so weird. Also, this is more a problem with everything written past the original PJO series, but I don't think Rick has a firm grasp on these characters' characterizations anymore. For example, I don't think Percy and Annabeth would have just let Nico and Will go to Tartarus that easily, LOL. They would not have said that shit about forgetting Bob either. And finally, I know the themes of sexuality and trauma being covered are important, especially for kids, and I get what they were trying to do, but there’s literally no nuance or subtlety at all. Everything is so heavyhanded.
Scream, sorry for being so negative, but yeah, I really did not think this book was good . . . okay, here are some things that I did enjoy: I liked how Nico and Will's relationship was handled, and I loved the glimpses we saw of Nico's mamma because she's someone I've been dying to know more about!!! I also really loved that glimpse of Piper and her girlfriend, Shel, at the end, and I love Nico connecting with her about their grief over Jason, but I do wish that conversation had flowed a little better. Um, what else . . . Small Bob was cute . . . yeah IDK.
Sigh I hope at least the intended audience is having fun with this somehow.
Moderate: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Outing