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samanyana's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Death
scifi_rat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, and Panic attacks/disorders
cko's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
You know how some books feel like they are destined to be a movie? Or perhaps even should have been a movie, instead of a book? I kept craving to see this play out on screen rather than the page.
Some things I liked:
Some things I liked:
- Gay slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance!!!
- Bisexual representation!!!
- The descriptions of how Rao experiences truth as a physical sensation
- The horror aspects and metaphors about nostalgia
- The page-turning pacing in the first and last thirds of the book
Some things I didn't like:
- There were often long sequences of dialogue with no attributions. Not sure if it's because I read an ARC (thank you, S&S!) but I often had to reread the dialogue to figure out who was saying what because the back-and-forth didn't make sense; it often seemed like one person would speak twice in a row.
- There was also a slow part in the middle that dragged on a bit, and later I saw the reasoning for it, but I almost didn't pick the book back up again because of that slowness.
- A few of the characters did not feel real (like Rhodes, but maybe psychopaths just have that quality?)
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
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