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rory18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
2.0
A lot to like about this book but also a lot to not like, so I'm rating it 3 stars. It's compelling and the relationships between the characters are as well, but the excessive use of Native folklore from an author I can't find anything about being Native is not good. It's also really predictable. I wrote that diversity was complicated because the two trans characters are somewhat stereotypical, with the non-binary one having shapeshifting/glamouring powers and the trans woman having anger that can take up a room, generally being the angriest character, and being the computer whiz of the group. She also leaves them without saying goodbye. And in the audiobook, the narrator reads her parts with a voice about as deep as the adult men even though she's been on blockers for years. So like, is it really all that diverse if the representation is questionable and there's cultural appropriation? It's also kind of weird how she has so many characters of color with next to no background of their pasts other than "oh, this Mexican-American character knew some Spanish".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Gun violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Trafficking
Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexism, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Fatphobia
Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Cursing, Incest, and Pedophilia
The "there's nothing Frank wouldn't do" and fact that there's no video footage of Frank's room with Elle in it and the general non-sexual first stages of grooming is enough to imply an adult/minor relationship with 16 year old Elle being Frank's favorite, so I'm tagging adult-minor relationship. The main character was in a puppy love relationship with one of her sisters before they grew to consider each other sisters and talks about remembering the feel of her mouth which is sort of pseudo-incestuous. Frank doesn't let the girls learn Spanish for some reason. Excessive mentions and usage of w/nd/gos for a non-Native author.
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