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ksamaine95's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
I’m a little spoiled and new to independent publishing, so the typos and continuity blips were the only things big things to bring it down. Definitely willing to give the next books a chance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Classism
jaithebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I’m not sure I quite got what this book was. Is it fantasy? Is it mystery? Is it romance? The beginning and end of this particular book was very much building the Drew Collins University world, and unlike the name suggests, it’s not only Maggie’s world as a potential vampire, but also Asha’s world as a siren (hunter), Souxie’s world as a witch, and to a lesser extent, Isis’ world as a nymph. Together with their sidekicks, Hillary (Souxie’s roommate) and Quan (the talking cat), they form their own little band of misfits at DCU and try to understand their purpose and new identity as students in the school.
This was certainly interesting and a page-turner but I had two main issues- the first being not much happens in this book but a lot of world building. The characters don’t grow, develop or build anything much so it’s very difficult to understand where this is going. It’s an interesting book but 450 pages of world building with very little plot progression or character progression feels a little excessive and like even the author isn’t sure where this is going (which is borne out by the notes at rhetorical end). There is minimal plot development and there is also not enough character development, we get a hint of what Souxie wants but what about Asha or even Maggie as the title character, what is it that they care about or want- what is motivating them. It’s strange that after 450 pages, we don’t feel like we know them. The second issue I had was with the characterisation- these girls are a little old to be acting the way they do at times. Perhaps it’s the fact that they’re about 30 years old and pretty much freshman in college but the tension between this being a full adult fiction and a new adult fiction was clear and this definitely gave new adult vibes where even with the professors it didn’t feel like I was reading about full grown ups or people of much maturity. A third issue I had was with the numerous perspectives of people in similar situations of finding their place as DCU, which were signposted in fairness, but which without chapter markers were often a little confusing, leaving me as a reader wondering whose perspective we were hearing from at times especially when in the first person.
All of that said, this was interesting and I kept turning the pages. I wish I knew what this series was going to be so I know whether I want to check out book 2 or not. Will it be another 400+ pages of minimal plot with a cliffhanger at the end or is the story coming? I understand why this is highly rated but it does straddle the lines of “not for me.”
This was certainly interesting and a page-turner but I had two main issues- the first being not much happens in this book but a lot of world building. The characters don’t grow, develop or build anything much so it’s very difficult to understand where this is going. It’s an interesting book but 450 pages of world building with very little plot progression or character progression feels a little excessive and like even the author isn’t sure where this is going (which is borne out by the notes at rhetorical end). There is minimal plot development and there is also not enough character development, we get a hint of what Souxie wants but what about Asha or even Maggie as the title character, what is it that they care about or want- what is motivating them. It’s strange that after 450 pages, we don’t feel like we know them. The second issue I had was with the characterisation- these girls are a little old to be acting the way they do at times. Perhaps it’s the fact that they’re about 30 years old and pretty much freshman in college but the tension between this being a full adult fiction and a new adult fiction was clear and this definitely gave new adult vibes where even with the professors it didn’t feel like I was reading about full grown ups or people of much maturity. A third issue I had was with the numerous perspectives of people in similar situations of finding their place as DCU, which were signposted in fairness, but which without chapter markers were often a little confusing, leaving me as a reader wondering whose perspective we were hearing from at times especially when in the first person.
All of that said, this was interesting and I kept turning the pages. I wish I knew what this series was going to be so I know whether I want to check out book 2 or not. Will it be another 400+ pages of minimal plot with a cliffhanger at the end or is the story coming? I understand why this is highly rated but it does straddle the lines of “not for me.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Classism