Reviews

Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky

annaleady's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.25

wollstonecrafty's review against another edition

kind of mid, annoyingly underdeveloped miracle child character (and i didn't care for preet), hilariously i did not notice apparently there are supposed to be no men in this society. loved the remedy against self harm by seeing yourself as part of a community though (valissa's confrontation w the first shaper)

allireadsmke's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I picked this up because I really liked Witchlight, but I LOVED this. The art is fantastic, the color scheme is unique and beautiful. The story itself had me engaged from beginning to end. The love story is strong. It has moments of anxiety, but they are gentle, real, and beautiful. Gorgeous. Highly recommend.

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

mehsi's review against another edition

5.0

Stunning, sometimes confusing, but mostly very beautiful. Thanks to Santa for giving me this book~ A magical tale about love, trust, magic, finding yourself, and that nothing needs to stay the same way forever. Change can be good.
I really liked the characters, well OK, Valissa was my favourite. I wanted to hug her at times as she just isn't able to draw out the magic and she feels alone. I loved how she volunteered for that one job and loved following her on her quest through it, see all that happens + more.
And then we are also following Preet. I was liking her journey as we saw different sides to the world, but I also wasn't all a fan of how Preet acted at times.
The art was absolutely stunning.

Spoiler

-Wasn't a fan of how Preet decided to just say F to her wife and raise that seed herself. Or how when an argument ensues at the end she just turns her and the kid in a tree. WTF. That just pissed me off. Like hello? Act like a freaking adult.

dicedmango's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

3.25

meowster18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

lawbooks600's review

adventurous emotional slow-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

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Score: Five out of ten.

What a massive disappointment. 

I hoped I would enjoy Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky and find it an improvement over Witchlight, but she underwhelmed me again. I haven't read from Zabarsky in almost three years, but so far her books don't deliver. I shouldn't have even picked this one up, since the low ratings warned me to avoid it.

It starts with Preet and Valissa living typical lives in a magical all woman society (what happened to the other genders, though?) The only catch is Preet has magical abilities and Valissa doesn't, rendering her as a human, but I'm tired of books that have two types of people like this. Soon enough, their lives separate, with Preet going off exploring a new realm outside the human one, while Valissa is left behind to continue her life without her. Let's start with the positive aspects, I mostly liked the art, even with a limited colour palette of white, black, brown, coral, and sometimes blue and orange, except the faces put me off, as the eyes are only dots. Why is the font rounded? I'm unsure. Unfortunately, that is where the likable aspects conclude.

The characters don't have any depth or development, making me disengage from the creation, but writing the characters better would help. There are some intriguing worldbuilding aspects of the setting, but some aspects are vaguer, much to my confusion, as it leaves behind unanswered questions, like where did the Shifter and Shaper come from? Were they always there? Are they the creators of everyone and everything here? These two all powerful beings birthed humans, both magical and non-magical, into existence, but what about the other magical beings Preet meets, like the race of cloud people? How did she meet these deities? Preet literally grew a child, Lue, who grew quickly in a few pages, and then she turns from a human to a humanoid hedgehog, making me wonder what happened to her (so that's why other genders are unnecessary.) In the concluding pages, Valissa had had enough, so she searches and finds Preet, bringing her back into the village. That finish is heartwarming, but not enough to redeem the rest of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

caseybug's review

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

itsybitsyfrog's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.25