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theirgracegrace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As I Descended is a diverse, queer but still tragic retelling of Shakespeare that does not hold back from the horror. María and Lily are the school's rising stars, if only Delilah Dufrey wasn't in the way. When they have a séance with their best friend Brandon, they unleash a supernatural force that inhabits their Southern boarding school. And the ghosts say that blood will have blood...
I adore how Robin Talley recontextualizes the setting from the nobility of early medieval Scotland to a group of queer teens at a Southern boarding school, and how the themes do not change. It legitimately is impossible to tell if the characters are hallucinating the supernatural occurrences in the school, or if they are really happening. The relationships between the characters mirror those between their Shakespearean counterparts, but they also are their own people and show the effect of fate and the supernatural on their psyche.
I adore how Robin Talley recontextualizes the setting from the nobility of early medieval Scotland to a group of queer teens at a Southern boarding school, and how the themes do not change. It legitimately is impossible to tell if the characters are hallucinating the supernatural occurrences in the school, or if they are really happening. The relationships between the characters mirror those between their Shakespearean counterparts, but they also are their own people and show the effect of fate and the supernatural on their psyche.
Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Racism, Confinement, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Fatphobia, Ableism, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse and Body horror
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