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robinks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
I found CJ a bit annoying, and I thought the book could have ended a little sooner. Despite all that, this novel tackled nuanced racial issues and family dynamics in a powerful way. I also liked learning about the meanings of flowers.
Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Outing
Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Vomit
readerette's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A decent coming of age story with the perspective of one whose family suffered as a result of racist acts in prior generations. It's worth reading. Expect to be challenged amongst the lightheartedness.
I don't ever expect (or even like) perfect characters, but I found CJ's mom hate-able the whole book and the aunt eventually got there for me too, sadly. CJ spends a lot of time beating herself up, which is exhausting when placed alongside the examination of racism, the familial squabbles, the coming of age, the poor choices in how she treats her friends, and the strange inclusion ofher teenage pregnancy and abortion, about which she registered exceedingly little emotion except as it played with her doubts about her mother's choice to have her--she had those doubts regardless so it just felt like excess drama .
I don't ever expect (or even like) perfect characters, but I found CJ's mom hate-able the whole book and the aunt eventually got there for me too, sadly. CJ spends a lot of time beating herself up, which is exhausting when placed alongside the examination of racism, the familial squabbles, the coming of age, the poor choices in how she treats her friends, and the strange inclusion of
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Xenophobia
lena_and_her_books's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Took me a while to get into but after a 100 pages or so I was hooked.
Was not as LGBTQ* as I expected. The main character (a straight cis girl) is friends with LGB-people, and through her lens we follow their storylines: lesbian (several characters, incl. a teen romance), gay (gay couple in one scene) and bisexual (main charachters (asian, male) love interest) side characters
Was not as LGBTQ* as I expected. The main character (a straight cis girl) is friends with LGB-people, and through her lens we follow their storylines:
Graphic: Bullying and Drug use
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion and Vomit
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