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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Was this book predictable? Yes
Did I still love it? Also yes
Would I recommend this? Of course
This book gives The Vampire Academy vibes, but make it sapphic.
Did I still love it? Also yes
Would I recommend this? Of course
This book gives The Vampire Academy vibes, but make it sapphic.
Did this book have an editor? Because there were soooo many typos (wrong words, missing words) that it was distracting.
…I wanted to like this book because ✨lgbt vampires✨ but I really didn’t.
Taylor had the better pov but her issues—especially dealing with homophobia—were brushed under the rug.
Cat is a surface level self-proclaimed ally to social issues, but her actions are performative at best. She asks for pronouns (mostly because that’s what she’s used to in the human world) and asks if there’s a poc club on campus, but then she is shocked to realize people can question systems of oppression, and that you have to put in work to make real change. She is not the spark for a revolution that the book wants her to be.
Just like Cat, the rest of the book feels performative, but it’s just not good lgbt representation and unfortunately not very fun. I had a hard time getting myself to finish it. 1.5?
Taylor had the better pov but her issues—especially dealing with homophobia—were brushed under the rug.
Cat is a surface level self-proclaimed ally to social issues, but her actions are performative at best. She asks for pronouns (mostly because that’s what she’s used to in the human world) and asks if there’s a poc club on campus, but then she is shocked to realize people can question systems of oppression, and that you have to put in work to make real change. She is not the spark for a revolution that the book wants her to be.
Just like Cat, the rest of the book feels performative, but it’s just not good lgbt representation and unfortunately not very fun. I had a hard time getting myself to finish it. 1.5?
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Gives Simon and Baz vibes, except lesbian vampires. Very fun read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a little bit of a disappointing read. I had really high hopes for a sapphic vampire story, but just felt it fell short in a lot of aspects.
To start, there were some aspects I enjoyed. The world building felt solid and pretty realistic, which can be hard to do in urban fantasy settings with trying to balance the supernatural world in a way that feels realistic to the real world. I also thought some of the less touched ideas that were handled subtly were really well done. Specifically Kat and dealing with people’s sense of entitlement to hot people. There was also a really solid exploration of comp het in Kat’s development and discovery of her sexuality. Kat’s journey in sorting out her sexuality also felt ready well done and relatable.
Outside of that though, the book kept falling short. I think the book’s themes could have been handled well, but we were constantly being whacked over the head with them. It felt like someone who didn’t really get the topics the book was exploring was trying to explain them. It’s being shoved down your throat that discovering your sexuality is a journey and you aren’t entitled to know things about people, but then punishes/shames characters for being on that journey and/or not having the support systems to safely explore that.
On top of that I found every character pretty unlikable. I want characters to have flaws and blind spots, however there’s also only so much I can deal with before I decide the character’s just not a good person. Which is what I felt like every character fell into. Entitlement to know someone’s sexuality who you haven’t seen in three years, putting down more fem girls for being fem and not masc, ignoring boundaries setup by other characters (especially in the romance), and thinking someone is faking a panic attack for attention who has never displayed that kind of behaviour are just a few examples.
The final biggest issue is a really weak plot and ending. The book spent its entire run meandering about, occasionally dropping crumbs of plot, and then speed ran the entire plot in the last 25% or so. It just felt poorly done. Pair that with a poorly thought out ending (they took down the Big Bad Evil Conservative Capitalist and suddenly everyone everywhere was super accepting and no more bigotry happened) just mixed so well together to make the plot feel as flimsy as a piece of single-ply.
Overall it had a lot of potential and could have handled its complex themes in a nuanced, subtle way. However, it just ends up feeling like the author bit off more than she could chew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
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
There were a few typos that I found in this book but not many. Kat and Taylor are a cute couple but I did get a little sick of them not communicating with each other. The ending was kind of disappointing as I was expecting something bigger to happen.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes