theultimatebooknerd's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I just thought this book was a fun read with a flawed main character. I have a deeper analysis on the book which actually goes hand in hand with extra stuff the author put at the very end of the book. 

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lunamoon62's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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friedowls's review against another edition

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  • 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

This book was so good that I can't even review it properly. The characters, despite obvious flaws (cough, Monty, cough), are so unbelievably lovable. The adventure was fun and tense, and the romance had me squirming around in pain (believe it or not, that's a good thing). Monty's character development across it all was so satisfying. This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. 

Content Warnings: this book deals with child abuse and alcoholism (both of which is something the main character deals with). Those are the reasons I can't reread this book, because even though I've never experienced either of them, the moments where those would pop up made me almost physically sick. Also, the book is a historical adventure that deals with racism, ableism, and sexism. Some of this is perpetrated by the main character, but the people around him don't tolerate it, and he learns that he's being a terrible person and betters himself.

Continuing with the content warnings, [possible spoilers?] to add possibly necessary context, the main character's love interest (Percy) is disabled, and the main character (Monty) spends a lot of the time trying to find a magical-ish cure for Percy's disability, epilepsy, even though Percy doesn't want the cure. But Monty learns that he's being shitty. 

If the content warnings would make you majorly uncomfortable or worse, I would suggest you don't read it for your own health. Otherwise, buy this book immediately what are you doing with your life. 

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mixmousereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.0


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kal517's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

4.0


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quinniepoepie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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eidal's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

4.5


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katiechasingchapters's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

4.0


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johns6ka's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • 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

4.0


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nonnavlis's review against another edition

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

4.5

This was such a delightful read! The writing style of the author is so marvellous. It's not at all short on evocative prose, but never the sort that trips you up; it reads so smoothly and is also quite witty. I'm someone who is just branching into more modern writing and often struggle with a dislike of the style of it, but this was great. The completely unrestrained queerness was also very delightful and the characters are engaging. It's unrealistic in the good way--you probably won't see the story beats coming and they're a bit silly when they do, but in a way you want to happen because it's all the more fun.

It was also lovely to see some unexpected disability representation later in the story! (I am not considering this is a spoiler as it's something I would've wanted to know as a disabled person, but sorry if anyone feels a bit cheated in my saying so).

The only problem I had with it was the handling of racial tension within the story. I respect the author's desire for some diversity and their certainly earnest and well-meant attempt at handling it, but it did feel pretty simplistic and glossed over in a way I expect a reader of colour would find even more awkward/uncomfortable than I did as a white reader. It's unfortunately one of those stories that probably would've benefited heavily from some sensitivity readers that it seems it did not have. The fact that the author even has an author's note chapter at the end of the book dedicated to summarizing her historical research and influences (where she refers to slave-owners as masters rather than enslavers which felt to me like a pretty glaring sign of lack of knowledge in this area), but still fumbled this as much as she did is why I've removed half a star from my rating. I did see after finishing that this is part of a series so I'm hoping it will be handled better in future stories, since we all have room to learn.

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