Reviews with content warning for Racism - We Ride Upon Sticks

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

21 reviews

leahb88's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This was funny and campy! Cool concept where the occult elements emphasize themes of teamwork and how far people will go to achieve what they want. Love the teen girl camaraderie, acceptance, and figuring out identity! The writing style and perspective of the narrator just wasn’t for me and

coming back to present day and reading the climax as a flashback just took me out and I wish I read the final game in 1989 time

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fatherprozac's review against another edition

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funny mysterious 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

2.75

Had to really force myself to finish this one as the writing style confused me a lot of the time. Despite only being 360 pages, this book feels really long for some reason (30+ page chapters?). The witchcraft was cool and cute in equal measure, but the sports talk was very boring for me personally. I liked several of the characters but since the focus kept changing between the whole team, I never felt like I got to really know any of them. Unfortunately, by the end I was also completely done with the romanticization of high school girls in sexual relationships with adult men and was ready to put the book down and never pick it up again.

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dlrosebyh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

3.5

This entertaining story by acclaimed author Quan Barry is a tour of feminine force. We Ride Upon Sticks is set in the coastal town of Danvers, Massachusetts, where the accusations that led to the 1692 witch trials began. It follows the 1989 Danvers High School Falcons field hockey team, that will do anything to reach the state finals—even if it means channeling some disarmingly dark powers. Barry brilliantly ties together the individual and communal evolution of this charmed squad as they crash their way through a remarkable season in chapters filled with 1980s iconography—from Heathers to big hair.

The Falcons, led by good-girl captain Abby Putnam and co-captain Jen Fiorenza, prove to be astute, inventive, and daring, defying society's antiquated conceptions of femininity in order to discover their wonderful true selves via the furnace of team sport and, more importantly, friendship.

This book is the identical result of Stranger Things but with hockey. This book is intriguing, but the run-on phrases and overly detailed chapters are not for me. Although I wasn't a major fan of the writing style, I like how dense and witty it is. I expected horrors in this novel, but halfway through, I knew there would be no horror, only black magic. Finally, this novel would have been better if the conclusion had been more interesting.

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githgorlfriend's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

so much fun and i got so easily attached to every single character. i never ever say this but i want a tv adaptation. absolutely raving abt this book UNTIL the ending which was underwhelming. mel should have been a lesbian no matter how cliche it was i’ll die on this hill. also i didn’t really like the time jump and anticlimax basically the last 35 pages felt weird to mebut up until then it’s genuinely so wonderful and i loved the ride. perfect perfect use of a character ensemble

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solenekeleroux's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

I loved this book so much, it's one of my new favorites.
I'm not at all a team sports fan, so I didn't know if I would enjoy it, but it's about so much more than sports. It's really about a team turned coven using dark powers to become their true full liberated selves. The collective narration is so good, I loved the magic, the wild moments of dancing under the moon, the sexual liberation stories. I loved how it is funny but also lyrical at times, the writing is beautiful.

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professorbadger's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I have tremendously mixed feelings about this book. It was a great idea (with a truly perfect title!), and many of the story elements were enjoyable. I enjoyed the cast of characters and their different takes on the world. With a strong editor to force the author to cut about 10% across the board, including the handful of jokes that didn’t really land, it would have been so, so much better. As is, it’s more of a mixed bag. I found the ending stronger than the beginning, so if you start reading and aren’t sure (like me), it may help to know that it *does* get stronger.

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