Scan barcode
bookishchef'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
3.25
And part of me does. The characters were great, I loved the representation and I thought Wyatt was a really enjoyable narrator. The writing style was good too...
But the plot was all over the place. The pacing was inconsistent. And the story couldn't seem to focus on literally anything. To the extent that the main plot point of this book doesn't get a resolution by the end.
I thought Wyatt acted a bit old for his age too. A 17 year old with multiple years of sexual experience and sexual partners? Like... it isn't impossible and I guess some teenagers do mess around a lot but idk.
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gore, Death, Death of parent, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Drug use and Transphobia
Minor: Vomit, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Dysphoria
tiredreader51'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Blood
Minor: Colonisation
mxemma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Racism, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, War, Terminal illness, and Transphobia
Minor: Pregnancy, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming
itsapaxycab'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: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
Moderate: Deadnaming and Transphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Abandonment, and Death of parent
fxnnxcs'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
warlocksarecool21'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
3.25
Overall, I thought it was a fun story even though I had some issues with it.
First, I enjoyed that queerness was present and centered throughout the entire book and that it wasn’t added on or minimized like in other fantasy novels. I thought the magic system and the Fae’s origin was really interesting and it’s something I hope to read more about. I also really enjoyed the characters, I thought Emyr and Wyatt were so cute together and I adored Wyatt’s friendship with Briar. Although there were times that I felt that the story would have been better if the characters, especially Wyatt and Emyr were in their 20s instead of high school age but it didn’t bother me that much.
I did have some issues with the writing style and narrative. There were times where I thought the dialogue/Wyatt’s inner monologue were too juvenile for my taste, and it came off as very fanfic-y. It wasn’t necessarily what they were saying but rather the way in which they were saying it. A lot of the language used was so Gen Z/Tiktok slang and meme language and at times it was kind of irritating like it just took me out of the story. And I felt that the author tended to over-explain the symbolism, like most people should be able to see the parallels between transphobia and queerness with how the witches were treated in the fae world, but the author decided to literally spell it out for us. In regards to the plot (other than it was kind of a generic YA fantasy at times) I felt that the pacing was off sometimes and I thought the ending was rather rushed, especially with Wyatt and Emyr’s third act break-up and reconciliation (hate hate hate that trope). I still think it’s worth a read, it’s nice to have a queer fantasy that subverts a lot of the popular tropes in the genre. I do hope the next book will be stronger than this one, as I think the characters and story concept are really interesting.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Transphobia, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, and Police brutality
hilmi'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
4.25
Even though I'm always attempting to be an ally, sometimes the outright anger to/hate for cisgender or straight-identifying characters made me have a visceral reaction and I almost dropped the book because I wasn't in the mood to absorb the anger. Then I realized: a) that's a privilege (that I can choose not to be angry) and maybe it would be worth working through my aversion - and it was worth it; and b) historically, trans characters in particular and lgbtq characters at large have been depicted in pretty vile ways so turnabout is fair play.
So, come for the good fiction and the feels.
Graphic: Transphobia
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
annaswanangel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
ryankaybee'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
2.5
Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Transphobia, Racism, Death, and Dysphoria
ratking17's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Nothing is explicit but does involve the main character so there is a personal point of view.