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alsoapples's review
- 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? No
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Classism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Transphobia, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Addiction
savvylit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Beyond the aspects mentioned above, though, I did not enjoy this book. I tried to write a thorough review explaining all of the reasons why but I ran into the Instagram character limit. Thus, I present to you a list of qualms:
1. Maddie is irritatingly spineless and naive. She has nearly zero personality beyond being in love & being afraid.
2. Maddie constantly demands the emotional labor of people of color to assuage her fears and extreme naivete.
3. The love interest, Red, is sexy but super toxic. It seemed we were supposed to be rooting for xim & Maddie. I couldn't.
4. The structure of this book is uneven and jumbled. It's a journal but the jumps in time are often abrupt.
5. Everything in this novel is heavy-handed and over-explained. All of part 1, in which the characters are introduced in unnecessarily repetitive detail, could have been eliminated & the story would have been better for it.
6. Relatedly to the above, this is a New Adult story that relies on constantly telling versus showing. I know that Kern has a background in teaching, but I didn't enjoy feeling like one of their students.
7. Parallels & meta nods to our real-world timeline were made. They were cheesy and awkward.
Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Death, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Grief
kleinekita's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Rape, Transphobia, Classism, Toxic relationship, and War
blue_txt's review against another edition
2.0
I've never wanted to experience fictional leftist in-fighting.
I don't enjoy books with thought-experiment based plots, so I knew it wasn't going to be a great read for me. I guess I expected more from the characters since the plot was so paper-thin.
Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, War, Death, Confinement, Racism, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
bobbi's review
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Vomit, Gun violence, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia
alienguy's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Classism, Rape, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual harassment, War, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Xenophobia
kchamp's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
And oh god, don’t get me started on Red and the romantic subplot. Maddie just hops from toxic relationship to toxic relationship and it’s boring. And there was not a single moment of this book that convinced me that Red was “charming.”
I did not give a shit about Red or Maddie, and it infuriated me to have to trudge through their story for the scraps of what was actually compelling in this book. I want books about hope, not just in the last 5 pages.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Death, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Addiction
free_the_bookshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was so good, for what it tries to do. If you are curious about how this timeline would relate to reality, this is a fun illustration of that. It’s interesting to see how things aren’t so different, since a lot of society’s problems are systemic.
I really enjoyed the parallels that Sim pulls between their timeline and reality. You would think that with a War on Climate Change, the US would be a utopia, but of course, capitalism exists, so we can’t have nice things. And the ending, perfect for each character. If you are looking to read about a revolution, this right here should be your jam.
The only reason I couldn’t give this book a 5 out of 5 stars, is the narrator, Maddie Ryan, so really annoying. She’s meant to be a way to view and learn about all the intricacies of social justice, but it comes off like she’s never left her house in her life. Maddie’s naivety makes the book come off a kind of preachy. The story arc does make sense for her character, but if this book was told from a 3rd person perspective, I wouldn’t have missed her at all.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcoholism
sky130's review
- 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: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Drug use, and Racism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Rape, and Addiction
Minor: Colonisation and Deadnaming
miggyfool's review
- 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: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Rape, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit