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kappafrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Edit: dropping my review from 4.5 to 4. When the excitement of being in the story has worn off I have a few more criticisms of some of the racial dynamics in the book.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Grief, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Vomit, and Misogyny
peggy_racham's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Police brutality, Homophobia, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime
Minor: Cursing, Addiction, Car accident, and Death
vaguely_pink'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
4.5
4.5 something about the way CMQ writes 20-something characters having existential and identity crises has been really hitting these days (┬┬﹏┬┬)
Graphic: Sexual content and Homophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Transphobia, Drug use, Grief, Car accident, Confinement, Fatphobia, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism
the_true_monroe'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment
Moderate: Car accident, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Homophobia, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Alcohol
Minor: Police brutality, Racism, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Excrement, Animal death, Drug use, and Classism
sxndaze'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? It's complicated
4.0
excited to read more from cmq!
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury
hayleyvharrington'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? No
4.0
Moderate: Biphobia, Car accident, Drug use, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Abandonment, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Lesbophobia
amberinpieces'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: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Racism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Alcoholism, Grief, Classism, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Biphobia
panic_at_the_bookshelf'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? It's complicated
4.75
This is a queer romance that shows us all aspects of falling in love with someone. From the denial to the fear of losing them. From pure joy to the insecurities that come along with letting someone close.
I am also super happy about how there are plenty of hints to the people from the LGBTQIA+ community who fought so hard for our rights and freedom. Not the mention the ode to drag queens. They are portrayed as openhearted, protective, loving and determinated people instead of bitches. Casey has shown us how the community can be such a warm and welcoming place.
I also love how even side-characters get a background story. They aren't just some decoration for the story. There is a depth to them that makes everything more realistic even when the author plays with timelines.
There are only a few minor things that bugged me just a little. The first part of the story has plenty of scenes (sometimes super random ones) where the focus is on August's virginity. I know society portrays virginity as a shame once you reach a certain age. Yet I felt weird when reading how the character shames herself on this and there isn't much else done with it. At least I didn't feel like a lot was done to this.
I also feel as if some things conveniently happened when the characters were facing a problem. Sometimes it felt too convenient to me.
However those two elements are literally the only thing that bugged me throughout this book. I would highly recommend this books if you want queer romance, a diverse cast of characters and a bit of a mindfuck. Heck, I wasn't able to put down the book for the last 100 pages because I was absolutely hooked and needed to know how the mystery would be taken care of...
Moderate: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Racism, Grief, Drug use, and Homophobia
jkneebone's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Things I adored about this book: The side characters - all of August's coworkers at Pancake Billy's, and especially her roommates-slash-found family-slash-band of misfits. The descriptions of NYC and especially Brooklyn. August's complicated relationship with her mother. Jane's backstory, and the window it gives into queer history. The simmering, sultry relationship between Jane and August, and how we get to see it develop. The side plot about fighting gentrification. How aggressively queer it is (the cast of characters are almost entirely LGBT, and August & co frequently attend drag shows etc).
Things I struggled with about this book: The fact that it is explicitly set in 2020 when it was published in summer 2021 (I know it was probably already written & edited pre-pandemic, but changing the dates would have been - to me - a good use of time). The pacing (it drags at the beginning). The genre combo/overlap of sci-fi(?) and romance (usually in romance, you know the characters will end up together, and I spent way too much time worrying because I didn't know *how* that could possibly work out).
Although I ultimately really enjoyed this when I finally finished, it took me a looooong time to get through it. I kept starting, getting distracted, reading ahead, then putting it down and not wanting to come back to it. I didn't realize going in that it was a time travel book, and I was really having trouble reconciling the romance conceits I would usually expect with the unfamiliar, how-to-get-Jane-unstuck plot that felt at times very uncertain. I don't think this is a fault or a failure of McQuiston's - if anything it's a failure of the way we market books - because it was a cool idea that was pulled off really well in the end. But I did dock a half-star from my overall rating since it was so hard for me to get into the book at first.
Graphic: Hate crime and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Fatphobia
piphux's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Confinement and Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Death, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Biphobia, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Racism