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kajoreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Deportation
raekit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
Moderate: Self harm and Murder
Minor: Rape and War
larbster90'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
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, Murder, and War
pandsomeboi'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
5.0
The best part is that it stands on its own as YA, and as sci-fi, and as fantasy, and as speculative fiction. Still feel weary about trans folks? Well how do you feel about space aliens? Or demons? Or music? Or food? Or immigration? Or coming-of-age stories? There are so many in-roads! It’s an amazing piece of literature. Creative. Well-written. Exciting. Compelling. And emotional! Everything you want.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Classism
spadedigsbutts's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.5
Speaking on the story of the book, it's hard to really call it a story. It would be easier to call it a slice of life with fantastical elements and characters interacting until the last fourth of the book where more of a plot with the central protagonist, Katarina, comes up and we get some much needed payoff to her and Shizuka's arcs. If there is anything to say about this book, it is that almost everything with Katarina and Shizuka is excellent!! I loved seeing Katarina come into her own and gain confidence under the protection of her strong and loving mentor figure. While the book never once made me believe Shizuka would sacrifice Katarina, the inherent drama of the possibility and what they're willing to do for each other is great! If this book had just been about them and condensed to cut the many many side characters I would have rated it like a 4 minimum. Even if you don't read the whole book, read Katarina's stuff!! It's really good!! Unfortunately the biggest weakness of the book is Shizuka's love interest, the space refuge Lan, who just constantly feels out of place in the book. I wouldn't contribute this lack of cohesion to the fact everything else in the book is mundane or magical and Lan's parts of the story are super sci-fi, as I've seen other books do similar successfully, but that she never quite gets integrated into any one character's life. Even Shizuka, who is Lan's romantic interest, just has entire scenes and arcs going on independent of her to the point I forget Lan exists until she appears. Lan comes with a number of plot points and character arcs that unfortunately just flat out don't get a resolution, like with her son who
Anyways, if none of these are deal breakers for you, go read it!! Katarina's trans coming-of-age story is really good!! Unfortunately everything surrounding it is just very messy and underwritten and I wish i could have liked it more.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Confinement and War
This book absolutely digs and then dwells in real-world racism, transphobia, and other bigotries. If you want more of an escapist trans story without real-world bigotries, absolutely put this one down. If you're looking for more cathartic real-world brutal depictions of transphobia, etc. you might like this.kell_xavi's review against another edition
2.5
The rest was disappointing. Katrina was so much a set of ideas about transness, trauma and self-hatred that morphs into self-love, but I didn’t get a deeper sense of who she was or the ways in which she was queer beyond the body she tries to erase. Despite gestures to the inspirational growth of the artist, the family, impressions of all the characters are blunted.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
clarabooksit's review
- 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: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Self harm, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sashahc'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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Abandonment
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: War
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War
Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
nataliation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War