Reviews with content warning for Dementia - A Scatter of Light

Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

17 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I started out really liking this book and I loved the ending, but there are so many inexplicable writing decisions made in the middle that it wound up disappointing me. The parts about Aria learning to appreciate the perspectives of the adults in her life, going to the dyke march and the music festival, and trying to make art were really compelling but the romance was just... it was bad. The LI is older and already has a girlfriend and it's impossible to see what she could possibly see in this bland 18 year old that would make her act out like that.

Aria is also like... there is a scene where she finds out a relative might be dying and all she can think about is cheating with this woman again.

Also imo the sex scenes were way too graphic - yeah I'm an adult and I read adult books but also I do not want to know what is going where in YA.

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kappafrog's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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? It's complicated

2.25

Big disappointment after how much I liked Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Boring characters, pretty predictable plot, and the infidelity made the main character very unsympathetic. I only kept reading for the promised update on Lily and Kath but it was very anticlimactic and felt shoehorned in.

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alouette's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

for someone who adored Last Night at the Telegraph Club, i was surprised how much i did not like this book. in fact, between the unaddressed cheating and the blandness of the main character, i actively disliked it!

the story is very straightforward, and there is a distinct lack of memorable moments. the characters are set into stereotypes for most of the novel and there's really no exploration of them once they break out of that right at the end. aside from realizing she's queer, Aria didn't develop at all- she doesn't have to face any consequences from the dumb decisions she makes and she doesn't seem to have any interests.

about the cheating, because it was a big thing that completely threw me for a loop and tainted the book for me: i don't mind cheating as a plot point. but the fact that neither character acknowledges it or makes a move for it to become a normal relationship instead of cheating REALLY got on my nerves. lisa is made to be so obviously antagonistic that it feels like a parody instead of the emotional coming of age book it's advertised as being. never have i rolled my eyes at a relationship so hard! in the end it was kind of cute that Aria's first love was just the beginning of so much else in her life, but when it came at the cost of glossing over all her other relationships- especially to her grandmother, who got about 1 meainingful conversation with her- it doesn't really raise the rating.

also this did not have nearly enough of kath and lily for a book advertised as a companion to Last Night at the Telegraph Club! they get one newspaper snippet and one photograph and that's it!

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