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lucylovesgrapes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Sexual violence
cait_0310's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
cait'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: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Outing, Sexual assault, Drug use, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
anniereads221's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Rape, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Addiction, Violence, and Toxic relationship
li_reading's review against another edition
0.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Bullying, Ableism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Gun violence, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia
reygov's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Addiction, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Gore, Addiction, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Death
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
sabinehunter'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: Blood, Confinement, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization
jenny_librarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Everything I ever heard about this before picking up the books for myself was how much people love Neil and Andrew together. Well, I can tell you: I don't see it. You could say it's my aroace-ness that makes me blind to those things, but I have plenty of ships I love to prove you wrong. I just find that Neil and Andrew have absolutely no chemistry, and I think part of the reason is that we never get any real insight into Andrew's thoughts because the books are written from Neil's perspective.
Now, I'm not sure I should wish we'd gotten Andrew's perspective because I think the author made it pretty clear she's not exactly an expert on mental illness. It's never named what Andrew has (as far as I'm aware), but the whole medication thing was a huge red flag on the amount of research she probably put into that storyline.
But enough about that supposed OTP. You know who had real chemistry with Neil? Kevin. I kid you not, for the whole first book I tried to make sense of why everyone shipped Neil with Andrew while Kevin was right there. And I forgot he had a girlfriend until the 2.5 seconds she appeared around the 75% mark. I swear, the author made her up just to prove Andrew was the only choice.
I would have LOVED to see Kevin and Neil as a couple. Of course, it would have made everything around them go down in flames, but at least it would have been entertaining and I would've enjoyed it. As it stands, I was more interested in seeing what would happen with the mafia storyline (fiddled out too easily) and the championship (suspension of disbelief required, big time!) than any interaction between Neil and Andrew.
And while I'm ranting, let's talk about the whole school and Exy thing.
1) no way would Neil had been allowed to continue playing with the way he disregarded his studies. That might work in a school where the athletes are champions and revered by all, but it's made clear from the get-go that the Foxes aren't that respected. I wouldn't have minded as much if we hadn't seen classes at all or if Neil had actually studied, but the author makes it seem like he NEVER works at all for class, barely even listens when he attends. Making that little effort in college will get you failing grades for sure.
2) the championship rules (like the whole sport, to be fair) made absolutely no sense. To have a round of 2-out-of-3, then most points, then a death match in a tournament is too many rules. Can you imagine that in real life? Only people into fantasy sports and analysts would understand it. It would never work!
3) the way the Ravens can basically do anything they want. If they're the best team in the nation and their stadium is home to the national team, they'd be under constant scrutiny. Yet, they get away with pretty much everything until Neil and Kevin (and eventually Jean) make their big reveals. Seriously, you're telling me absolutely no one would have ever suspected the cult-like team to use psychological torture on their players? Come on.
I almost forgot an important point: consent. It's supposed to be super important to Andrew once his relationship with Neil develops. Which is hilarious because he completely disregarded Neil's consent when they drugged him in the first book. And even in this book, when Andrew basically forces Neil to drink after he said multiple times that he doesn't. So what if he's not on the run anymore? He said no, you respect it. The whole idea of consent seems to be important to the author only when it comes to sex, and it's a big problem.
So yeah, I don't get the hype. A compelling read, but nothing as amazing as the superfans would make you believe.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Rape, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Addiction
katerina_l'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: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
victorxvale's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Homophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt