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hobbithopeful's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.5
Would you take on someone else's pain and grief for a chance at a better life?
Marisol has little choice to do otherwise when she agrees to be a part of an experiment in exchange for safety for her and her sister. As the experiment progresses the burden of pain soon becomes overbearing, but she can't help but grow closer and closer to Rey, even though when she touches her the pain is all consuming.
A very real look at how immigrants are treated, this book was heartfelt, real, and full of grief. I do wish it was a bit longer, I still had so many questions, or maybe I just wasn't ready to leave these characters yet. I was afraid this was going to be a very heavy read, and while it does have pockets of sadness, it was nothing too difficult or graphic for me to get through.
It's very easy to forget the privilege we have for being in America, as bad as events and people here can be, there are countless others who works themselves to the bone and risk everything to come here.
I highly recommend this book.
Marisol has little choice to do otherwise when she agrees to be a part of an experiment in exchange for safety for her and her sister. As the experiment progresses the burden of pain soon becomes overbearing, but she can't help but grow closer and closer to Rey, even though when she touches her the pain is all consuming.
A very real look at how immigrants are treated, this book was heartfelt, real, and full of grief. I do wish it was a bit longer, I still had so many questions, or maybe I just wasn't ready to leave these characters yet. I was afraid this was going to be a very heavy read, and while it does have pockets of sadness, it was nothing too difficult or graphic for me to get through.
It's very easy to forget the privilege we have for being in America, as bad as events and people here can be, there are countless others who works themselves to the bone and risk everything to come here.
I highly recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual violence
Minor: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
novelyon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The development of Marisol and Rey's relationship was sweet and I enjoyed their parallel arcs as they both discover how they should each tackle their own grief and trauma in a healthy way. The sisterly dialogue between Marisol and Gabi was written very well. The greatest strength of this book was the conversations; each character had a distinct voice and personality, and it was always a joy to just read about the characters talking.
While I enjoyed the characters' arcs and relationships, I found the plot itself to be a bit slow (especially in the beginning, with multiple chapters explaining how the grief transfer works, which doesn't feel very important as this book is very light sci-fi anyway), and the themes could've been touched on with a little more depth. For a novel where the protagonist is a brown immigrant being exploited for a privileged white girl, it lets off the characters that caused and perpetuated that exploitation surprisingly, and disappointingly, lightly. Not only that, but I wish the book dealt with Gabi's trauma more as well; both sisters have been through so much yet the novel doesn't quite touch upon Gabi as it does Marisol; there are many moments where Marisol goes "she's been through so much," yet there are very few moments outside of a precious few lines of dialogue that show that Gabi and some of her behaviors may be processing her own traumas as well.
The ending was also quite abrupt:Like they're searching for Gabi and her friend Juliette at this party but it ends when Marisol just finds Gabi...where was Juliette LOL
Overall, a wonderful book to read if you are invested for the relationships between the characters, but if one wants to read a book that really dives into the heavy topic of US immigration policy and exploitation, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
While I enjoyed the characters' arcs and relationships, I found the plot itself to be a bit slow (especially in the beginning, with multiple chapters explaining how the grief transfer works, which doesn't feel very important as this book is very light sci-fi anyway), and the themes could've been touched on with a little more depth. For a novel where the protagonist is a brown immigrant being exploited for a privileged white girl, it lets off the characters that caused and perpetuated that exploitation surprisingly, and disappointingly, lightly. Not only that, but I wish the book dealt with Gabi's trauma more as well; both sisters have been through so much yet the novel doesn't quite touch upon Gabi as it does Marisol; there are many moments where Marisol goes "she's been through so much," yet there are very few moments outside of a precious few lines of dialogue that show that Gabi and some of her behaviors may be processing her own traumas as well.
The ending was also quite abrupt:
Overall, a wonderful book to read if you are invested for the relationships between the characters, but if one wants to read a book that really dives into the heavy topic of US immigration policy and exploitation, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Outing
Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Racism
spcandybars's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, and Mental illness
courtneyfalling's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This made me cry multiple times. I'd call it primarily a sad, contemporary novel with speculative fiction elements to deepen the emotional side. All of the main characters feel drawn-out and almost blurry around their edges... it's a lot more about how things feel than who they are. Marisol especially is a complicated mix of fiercely stubborn and mostly passive or internal, which makes the book's pacing sometimes feel heavy. The beginning weighs down a lot, and then we finally get the bulk of important backstory and growth in the final chapters. I can't say I was ever enamored with Rey as a character or the budding relationship between her and Marisol, but they do have some lighthearted moments and I liked the deeper arc of Marisol letting go of her internalized lesbophobia. And the criticism of the US immigration system is very well-done although I still feel like Indranie deserves a lot more comeuppance than she gets.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol
Additional CW for bomb attack/mass violencesteviaplath's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Medical trauma, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Cursing, and Child abuse
oliverreeds's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
i really enjoyed this book because the characters were very well-written; however, the plot seemed like a loose association to give the characters room instead of a fleshed out plot. the idea of being a "grief keeper" seemed important at the beginning but slowly lost it's importance. i thought that the story would be based around the main character taking more than one person's grief over the book, but she stayed with only one person which, to me, made the book feel incomplete. the addition of the flashbacks as well seemed inorganic. i don't know what they added to the main character, and i wanted to know more about gabi as well and how the past was affecting her. the climax of the book was also so close to the end and didn't leave time for proper emotional coping with the reality of the situation. however, i loved the characters so much! i feel like they operated like real people (even though i wish marisole had been more vocal to rey about things she was upset about) and i enjoyed the romance element that was added in. oh, and i also wish the side characters had been in more scenes. they were only in one, which i felt didn't make them important to the novel as a whole especially because they were such interesting characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pedophilia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Marisol and her sister Gabi have come to the US as refugees to escape gang violence back home. When restrictive boarder practices threaten to send them home, Marisol agrees to become part of a medical experiment in order to have their asylum request heard. The experiment seeks to try a new medical technology designed to transfer grief and trauma from someone experiencing them to someone else as a sort of temporary holding tank of sorts. Marisol is paired with a girl her age who recently lost a sibling in a traumatic way.
I enjoyed this read quite a bit. The story flowed smoothly, and the characters were engaging. I thought the concept of transferring grief and trauma from one person to another was an interesting, though troubling, concept and it was well executed here. It was stressful seeing Marisol fall prey to unethical practices targeting vulnerable populations!
I enjoyed this read quite a bit. The story flowed smoothly, and the characters were engaging. I thought the concept of transferring grief and trauma from one person to another was an interesting, though troubling, concept and it was well executed here. It was stressful seeing Marisol fall prey to unethical practices targeting vulnerable populations!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Death of sibling, PTSD, flashback, battlefield trauma, explosion trauma, medical science unethically taking advantage of vulnerable populations, detention center, US immigration practicesmxfahrenheit's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
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