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safiewafie'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual content
mooncraftbujo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Vomit, Slavery, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
mayas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Fuck, I don’t know what to think. I really loved this book, particularly at certain parts. I loved Emmett’s narrative voice. I loved how he noticed the little things like the way light passed through a window or the stitches on a quilt. I loved his character as a whole too.
I loved the slow, gentleness of the first part, of his time apprenticing Seredith. The first ~30 pages felt like a Ghibli film, which was lovely.
I enjoyed the second part too, I read most of it in one sitting and really struggled to put it down. I kept just wanting to read what happened next, when something specific would happen, etc.
I enjoyed the third part too. But I didn’t love/connect with Lucian’s voice/pov. He did need to be the narrator of the third part. It made so much sense to the story. But idk,,, I missed Emmett’s voice and his thought processes. I wonder how much of me not connecting is the traumatised part of my brain trying to distance myself from Lucian’s experience though.
And then the ending.
It was interesting exploring how binding was used to exploit different people (especially women and the working class).
I also did feel a bit bored here and there but this was minimal.
Overall, this was a beautiful book. I loved it. My favourite parts were the slow gentleness in the first part, the language/writing, the romance (esp in Part 2), Emmett, and the concept of binding. I’m very happy I finally read this!!
Graphic: Homophobia and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, Rape, and Pedophilia
sternfrl613's review against another edition
2.75
LGBTQIA*, SA survivors and children of abusive families: check the content warnings before reading to make sure you're up to what you're getting here.
Graphic: Classism, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Sexual violence, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual assault, Animal death, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Excrement
animaniac17's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Incest, Violence, Sexual content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Rape, Vomit, Cursing, and Pedophilia
Minor: Alcoholism, Abortion, and Classism
kenzieskinnerrr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
readhaileyread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
c_lizziebeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Grief, Violence, and Vomit
sannesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I was so excited about the premise of this book! Unfortunately, i ended skim reading a large portion of this book, especially the last part. It was just too slow and I didn't care anymore. I also didn't know this would be so romance heavy. It doesn't say clearly in the synopsis. However, I do enjoy some romantacies and part 2 was cute, but overall this was not the book for me.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, Sexual content, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Violence
august_ambrosia's review
- 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
collins’ whimsical (but grounded when necessary) style of writing builds suspense and prompts you to ask questions while also not losing a wonderful storytelling vibe… great descriptions and well rounded characters galore! collins writes emotion perfectly, and when the characters feel shocked or frightened, you do too. oh, and joyful.
i’ve seen some comments saying they didn’t like it because it was “depressing” and i just thought that was a little… privileged? juvenile? that’s the point. a well written book makes you think, ask questions, and reflect on your own biases and privilege.
debated with giving this 5 stars and i may still change my mind on a future read, but for now it’s a 5 :) thought it had a slow(ish) start that ended up making sense and i don’t like ambiguous endings a huge amount, but that's a me problem.
(spoilers here)
just as a last note: collins wrote the queer romance so beautifully. i had been silently rooting for emmett and lucian since their introduction and the little moments all meant so much to me. this book will forever have a treasured place in my heart purely because of them.
but yes, overall this book was a treasure and i'm so glad i picked it up :)
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Outing, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Animal death
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Vomit and Violence