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litliz'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Bullying, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit
bergha1998'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
3.75
Dark Romance, LGBTQIA+ Representation, Friends to Lovers to Enemies
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Body horror, Murder, Drug use, Death of parent, Blood, Torture, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death
introvertinterrupted's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Xenophobia, Murder, Medical content, Gore, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Blood, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Torture, Terminal illness, Stalking, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Hate crime, and Animal cruelty
miyaosamu's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
“The stars incline us, they do not bind us.”
I am genuinely rendered SPEECHLESS?! For a debut, Chloe Gong has truly outdone it with a concept I've rarely seen in YA fantasy. The writing beautifully done and I found the pacing just right. I loved everything about this, except for particular characters. Juliette Cai, my absolute new favorite mc, being such a resilient strong fighter and her witty way with words. But also how she can be emotionally vulnerable at the same time yet hates her emotions always questioning it due to her position in the Scarlet Gang. And of course there's Roma Montagov, genuinely my new best boy honestly. I adored his personality of how much he cares for everyone he loves and related to him with his frustration towards the role he's given and how he wants his own path in life. Though didn't connect to him in the emotional sense as much as I did with Juliette but I am veryy much looking forward to reading his point of views in the next book especially with the way this first book went!! I really loved the multi-perspective route that Gong took with this book, it added a lot of layers with getting to know other characters better and still connecting with the bigger storyline as it didn't veer off topic or get too confusing. The research the author put into this really shows with incorporating the different events happening during the time, and the lgbtq+ representation I'm so glad it was made visible and important. I was hooked on the storyline beginning to end, especially when its pace started to speed up, the reluctant allies trope and investigation was so much fun, seeing each character with their own different tasks day-to-day and their differing thoughts was quite amusing to read. I enjoyed this whole ride of a books from the laughs, the angst and yearning, and all the plot twists!! This was just such an amazing debut from Chloe Gong that ended up being one of my favorite releases of the year and I don't think many will be let down.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Grief, Gun violence, and Transphobia