Scan barcode
quiet_reader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia
nadia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
I'd heard that this book had a lot of footnotes and that that, combined with the different timelines, might be confusing on audio, but it flowed well. Maybe even better than if I'd been reading it in print! Also, pretty impressed with how I hardly got lost amongst what was a large cast of characters.
I'm only sad that I missed out on the illustrations. I took a little peek in a bookstore when I was about 60% through and was hoping to find them all online in the PDF attachment that came with the audiobook, but it only had the map of the school! Will have to go back to another bookstore and see! (This disappointment had no impact on my rating, mind.)
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy
beccaand'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
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Grief, Child death, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Homophobia, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Minor: Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, and Fatphobia
jillaay_h's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit
celery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
this review on tumblr by flying-elliska has all my thoughts well said:
https://www.tumblr.com/flying-elliska/672822130083233792/and-now-for-sapphic-reads-time-the-sequel-tm?source=share
pros:
- the setting was a fleshed out character in itself and I loved that. the orchard apples, the tower, the orangerie, the beach, etc.
- I liked the story of the original woman, simone, who lived on the land.
- some imagery was definitely creepy and disturbing, especially eating wasps.
- the main characters were interesting, and I liked that they became a poly triad rather than a love triangle.
cons:
- too many characters, too much rambling, too meta, too plotty and just too long.
- I never really got truly creeped out. it just didnt sink deep enough into that and there wasnt enough real danger. the deaths were distant and over fast. didnt feel that sad at any of them.
- more interesting to see more flo and Clara for sure.
a different read for sure and I'm glad I read it, but disappointing and a bit slow too.
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Death, Infidelity, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Child death, Alcohol, Murder, Misogyny, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Terminal illness, Classism, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicide
darumachan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexism, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Bullying, Vomit, and Alcoholism
achay91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
jessiereads98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This story is told with a very distinctive narrative voice. I enjoyed the humour and snark of it. I for one didn’t mind the footnotes. I can see how this voice and the use of footnotes might grate on some people though. I do wish the narration choice had been explained, as that seemed to be part of the story. I didn’t always care for the frequently repeated Mary MacLane quotes. Some of them worked, but at times it felt forced in and not relevant. I also didn’t understand the refusal to state the year of current timeline, then ultimately revealing it indirectly towards the end.
The sapphic relationships in both timelines play a starring role and it’s main characters are one of the most compelling parts. I enjoyed the relationship between our modern plain bad heroines the most. The relationship between Alex and Libbie was fine, but I found it boring and repetitive at times. I did appreciate the look at historical queer culture and relationships. The relationship between Flo and Clara which the book purports to be partially about is pretty much ignored which is disappointing. I would’ve much rather read about the original Plain Bad Heroines Society and that year at Brookhants from the students’ perspectives than Alex and Libbie’s perspective. Emily Danforth does do a great job comparing and contrasting the two timelines as foils throughout the book.
Unfortunately, side characters who are sorely neglected. I was left wondering throughout the book about Audrey’s mom, Merritt’s parents, and Elaine Brookhants and their stories. Emily Danforth couldn’t seem to decide whether to include these stories or not, so what I was left with as a reader was a bunch of pointless dangling threads.
Bringing things up to leave them unresolved is a common problem in this book. Harper’s family and relationships are brought up a few times, but there never seems to be any point or any furthering of the story surrounding them. Audrey’s friend Noel pops up on occasion seemingly just to tell Audrey that something is bad, as if Audrey and the readers couldn’t already tell. Details are brought up or events happen that are later just ignored or contradicted. There is a whole lot of nothing or wasted pages, which creates problems in pacing. This book drags through the middle and then rushes at the end.
I liked the ending while reading it, it’s immersive in the storytelling and makes sense on its own. However, it does make the previous 600ish pages seem pointless and leave multiple holes. The ending was almost completely unrelated to the story I read, and left several holes. In an ideal world, that ending would’ve been better set up for rather than spending the book on a completely different track not even able to see the track that the ending was on at almost any point. I was left with more questions than answers by the ending.
This did do some horror bits very well. There were times where I found myself legitimately a little scared while reading. Danforth’s use of metafiction to make it so the reader is left unsure along with the protagonist enhances the horror throughout the story.
While I enjoyed this for the most part, it was too long and had too much going on.
Graphic: Death and Body horror
Moderate: Vomit, Lesbophobia, Drug use, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Grief, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Death of parent
fin_pilot's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia