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mirandyli's review
adventurous
reflective
sad
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
3.0
A cute sci fi book about familial love with great Asian representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
jamiejanae_6's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Confinement, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, Death, and Terminal illness
emily_journals's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.0
I think a lot of the elements and pieces of this book were really well thought out and interesting, but in the end did not end up being executed as well as I initially hoped.
The world building was compelling where it existed, but a lot of the world was left to the reader to fill in the gaps because of the way the author wants to present the plot twist. The world building especially hindered the amount of exploration both the themes and characters could have. This book is also a very character driven book, but for being such a character driven and plot light book, the characters did not get enough development, especially for a lot of the very important side characters. The themes of this book feel very relevant and I enjoyed them, I don't think the rest of the elements, such as the character development and world building, were fleshed out enough to highlight and fully explore all of the themes in this book.
Overall, I think there were a lot of the building blocks and general ideas to make a great book, but the execution and exploration of all the elements together did not do enough to make this book anything exceptional.
The world building was compelling where it existed, but a lot of the world was left to the reader to fill in the gaps because of the way the author wants to present the plot twist. The world building especially hindered the amount of exploration both the themes and characters could have. This book is also a very character driven book, but for being such a character driven and plot light book, the characters did not get enough development, especially for a lot of the very important side characters. The themes of this book feel very relevant and I enjoyed them, I don't think the rest of the elements, such as the character development and world building, were fleshed out enough to highlight and fully explore all of the themes in this book.
Overall, I think there were a lot of the building blocks and general ideas to make a great book, but the execution and exploration of all the elements together did not do enough to make this book anything exceptional.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Medical content, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Suicide
c_serpent's review
Okay y'all. I got 51% in and then I couldn't. Simply could not. This entire review is a spoiler because the book is bad and I will tell you what happens so you don't read it.
So the novel's about two sisters looking for one another right. Cee is dead probably. That's fine, it's whatever, not a problem. So Cee is on this island with an abandoned house and she "has to" get off the island to go find her sister, okay? And she's been on the island for three years. That's a long time! Okay, still tracking. So Cee builds a boat, right, takes it out, there's a storm and she ends up on the island again.
This hot boy washes up on shore, he has no memories, Cee is delighted to have company and ofc he's hot because it's YA. Still, no problems.
He knows she wants to leave and he helps her. Cool. Good for him. So she builds a raft in two weeks. (Remember this time frame please. Boat = 3 years, raft = 2 weeks.)
But Cee only builds it big enough for herself??? and the boy is??? okay with this???? I mean ofc he's like "stay here" and kisses her because it's YA but she HAS to go find her sister RIGHT NOW. And the boy is not like "you're a freaking sadist you can't leave me here to die alone" he's like "I get it." What???
And she's EVEN SPECIFICALLY LIKE "i will send someone back for you" and the boy is like "bet you won't" and she's like "..." because he's right. And they both know she won't?
And all of this is being presented like it's normal.
So then her raft disappears, and she doesn't ask him about it (why . . . ?????) and instead decides to make a raft out of the mattress from the abandoned house.
and he????? is fine with this still???? Even though she thinks he might've taken the logs for the raft? And they go for a walk on the beach during what is probably their ~*~ last night together ~*~ and she's keeping the raft in her line of sight so it doesn't disappear like the other raft and she's packed more than half their food and she's straight up going to leave the boy on the island.
and I actually cannot FATHOM leaving a person on the abandoned island when you can spend two more weeks and some days building a WOODEN raft that will actually FLOAT (a mattress raft???? won't even float????) that is big enough for TWO PEOPLE.
She's been on the island for THREE YEARS. she built a raft in TWO WEEKS. she has enough time to make a raft for both of them, nothing will happen to her sister in these two weeks that hasn't happened in these THREE YEARS. And if you actually asked the boy to help you (which you didn't!!!) it would take even less time.
What kind of absolute sadist gets to know a person and care for them and then leaves that person on an island with NO other humans? the boy will have nothing to do for the rest of his life except think "the only human being that was here pretended to like me and then made a conscious choice to leave me behind without intending to send someone back for me." How can Joan He even pretend that's a thing that I won't think Cee is an actual demon for? There's not a justification for this. It's stupid. It's impossible to accept.
And I'll be real: I get that there's probably a narrative reason for this. Cee is dead. The boy is probably a hallucination or whatever in the afterlife and not a real person and that's why he doesn't come with her. BUT NEVER IS IT OKAY TO LEAVE SOMEONE ON A DESERTED ISLAND ALONE. If a novel requires me to say "yeah makes sense" about something that literally is not justifiable, it's a bad book, and I'm done with it.
Joan, I tried Descendants of the Crane. I tried this. Your books are stupid because your characters do stupid and disturbing things that no sane person would do, and you try to pass it off as normal. This ain't normal. This is deeply problematic, and Cee is a bad person, and I don't care what happens to her or her robotic sister. Three stars are removed because I cannot fathom justifying this. Where is the suspension of disbelief.
Two stars have been permitted to remain because I actually got 51% of the way into the novel, which is better than DotC, and because I'm going to find something to spoil the plot for me, because I want to know. But not bad enough to read the rest of the book. Your characters are bad people and we don't root for bad people in this house. Girl bye.
Total score: 2/5 stars
So the novel's about two sisters looking for one another right. Cee is dead probably. That's fine, it's whatever, not a problem. So Cee is on this island with an abandoned house and she "has to" get off the island to go find her sister, okay? And she's been on the island for three years. That's a long time! Okay, still tracking. So Cee builds a boat, right, takes it out, there's a storm and she ends up on the island again.
This hot boy washes up on shore, he has no memories, Cee is delighted to have company and ofc he's hot because it's YA. Still, no problems.
He knows she wants to leave and he helps her. Cool. Good for him. So she builds a raft in two weeks. (Remember this time frame please. Boat = 3 years, raft = 2 weeks.)
But Cee only builds it big enough for herself??? and the boy is??? okay with this???? I mean ofc he's like "stay here" and kisses her because it's YA but she HAS to go find her sister RIGHT NOW. And the boy is not like "you're a freaking sadist you can't leave me here to die alone" he's like "I get it." What???
And she's EVEN SPECIFICALLY LIKE "i will send someone back for you" and the boy is like "bet you won't" and she's like "..." because he's right. And they both know she won't?
And all of this is being presented like it's normal.
So then her raft disappears, and she doesn't ask him about it (why . . . ?????) and instead decides to make a raft out of the mattress from the abandoned house.
and he????? is fine with this still???? Even though she thinks he might've taken the logs for the raft? And they go for a walk on the beach during what is probably their ~*~ last night together ~*~ and she's keeping the raft in her line of sight so it doesn't disappear like the other raft and she's packed more than half their food and she's straight up going to leave the boy on the island.
and I actually cannot FATHOM leaving a person on the abandoned island when you can spend two more weeks and some days building a WOODEN raft that will actually FLOAT (a mattress raft???? won't even float????) that is big enough for TWO PEOPLE.
She's been on the island for THREE YEARS. she built a raft in TWO WEEKS. she has enough time to make a raft for both of them, nothing will happen to her sister in these two weeks that hasn't happened in these THREE YEARS. And if you actually asked the boy to help you (which you didn't!!!) it would take even less time.
What kind of absolute sadist gets to know a person and care for them and then leaves that person on an island with NO other humans? the boy will have nothing to do for the rest of his life except think "the only human being that was here pretended to like me and then made a conscious choice to leave me behind without intending to send someone back for me." How can Joan He even pretend that's a thing that I won't think Cee is an actual demon for? There's not a justification for this. It's stupid. It's impossible to accept.
And I'll be real: I get that there's probably a narrative reason for this. Cee is dead. The boy is probably a hallucination or whatever in the afterlife and not a real person and that's why he doesn't come with her. BUT NEVER IS IT OKAY TO LEAVE SOMEONE ON A DESERTED ISLAND ALONE. If a novel requires me to say "yeah makes sense" about something that literally is not justifiable, it's a bad book, and I'm done with it.
Joan, I tried Descendants of the Crane. I tried this. Your books are stupid because your characters do stupid and disturbing things that no sane person would do, and you try to pass it off as normal. This ain't normal. This is deeply problematic, and Cee is a bad person, and I don't care what happens to her or her robotic sister. Three stars are removed because I cannot fathom justifying this. Where is the suspension of disbelief.
Two stars have been permitted to remain because I actually got 51% of the way into the novel, which is better than DotC, and because I'm going to find something to spoil the plot for me, because I want to know. But not bad enough to read the rest of the book. Your characters are bad people and we don't root for bad people in this house. Girl bye.
Total score: 2/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Abandonment
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Cancer, Suicide, Medical content, Gore, Ableism, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Death of parent, Vomit, Child death, Sexual content, and Excrement
Climate crisis, pollution, natural disasters. Missing person, disappearance at sea. Strangulation/suffocation. Near drowning. Internalized ableism (neurodivergent-coded character experiences emotions in a way she views as "wrong" and "inhuman"). Needles (tattooing).augustar14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
3.25
I did find this book quite engaging. It has an air of mystery that has you wondering if what's happening is quite what it seems. The shifting point of view enhances this well. However, there were points I found underdeveloped or under explained which ultimately left me wanting at the end. <Spoiler> I didn't exactly understand the ending, whether it meant the reader was supposed to interpret what happened (and there was supposedly enough there to deduce a conclusion) or if it suggests that endings are ultimately unknown. Either way I felt confused and dissatisfied, wanting more information, to understand and know what did happen. </Spoiler>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Classism, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Violence, Vomit, War, Cancer, Bullying, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
rhm04's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Drug use, Cancer, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Abandonment, and Cursing
Minor: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is such an incredibly difficult book to rate because at times I really loved it, but most of the book made me felt ambivalent at best. I really liked the themes of lonliness and isolated, the ethical questions of who deserves to be saved (if anyone) and who has the right to decide that. But I'm not sure I liked the way those thoughts were concluded. And the whole thing was beautifully written.
The plot, however, was where this book really lost me. I found myself zoning out for passages only to go back and find out I hadn't missed much. I never was interested in both Cee and Kacey's story at the same time. There's a point about halfway through the book where Cee's plot hits a point that I think would have made a perfect ending, but the story keeps going, and I felt myself completely check out of her side of things after that. Luckily, shortly after that is when I became interested in Kacey's story finally. I also really could have done without the romantic subplots which I felt undermined the already perfectly wonderful sisterly love that was motivating both girls.
The plot, however, was where this book really lost me. I found myself zoning out for passages only to go back and find out I hadn't missed much. I never was interested in both Cee and Kacey's story at the same time. There's a point about halfway through the book where Cee's plot hits a point that I think would have made a perfect ending, but the story keeps going, and I felt myself completely check out of her side of things after that. Luckily, shortly after that is when I became interested in Kacey's story finally. I also really could have done without the romantic subplots which I felt undermined the already perfectly wonderful sisterly love that was motivating both girls.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
ghostlyprince's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Abandonment, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death and Classism
mattiedancer's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Writing: 4⭐️/5
Solidly written with some truly beautiful sections. Lots of really great foreshadowing that you don’t necessarily realize until you look back on it. Parts of the story can be a bit jarring and confusing, though He mostly smooths these out quickly.
Characters: 4⭐️/5
Beautifully different characters with realistic flaws and goals. The end felt a bit forced onto the characters, rather than created by the characters. Some sacrifices for plot over characters.
Plot: 4.75⭐️/5
Superb plot. Everything felt wrapped up at the end, but not too neatly. Some good surprises that didn’t feel forced or fake.
Post-Reading Rating: 5⭐️/5
Amazing plot. Interesting, thoughtful, well-developed and thought out.
Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5
Notes: Joan He definitely sacrificed a bit of characterization for plot. Feels like a gem of the genre, regardless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness