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violetdisposition's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Transphobia
misgendering of mcsophie42's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Racism and Outing
Minor: Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Classism, Alcohol, and Eating disorder
lauralintunen's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Dysphoria
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Homophobia
thebookpaiges's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria and Deadnaming
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Cancer, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse
ezwolf's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Lily Ashton is an actor born to an acting family playing the part of the fierce warrior Morgantha. Lily is out and proud queer and is angry to learn the writers intend to kill off Morgantha's on-screen love interest Alietta, played by uptight, perfect Greta. So a plan is hatched to try and save Morganetta and Greta's acting career and along the way discover more than just a simple "bury your gays" trope alive and well.
Having any nonbinary/transmasculine characters is so refreshing to me when I think I read maybe one book with a gay character in it growing up, so to see the kind of progress that's being made is wonderful. And also to have an asexual character, which are even rarer to come across! Lily (Frey's, I don't want to deadname them but I'm not sure how to go about it in a review without causing confusion if people haven't read the book) struggle with gender and dysphoria, even in such a public setting, was something I could relate to.
There was great commentary on how "bury your gays" is still so prominent in media (see Killing Eve) and how harmful it is to have actors of color act out story lines that play into stereotypes (like a black man killing the white love interest) as well as how being out and queer can still hinder an actor's career.
But also have pop culture references always been so popular in YA? I know I read a lot when I was younger and I've been reading more again, but I feel like a lot of what I've read recently has had an over the top amount. There was also an odd shift between current references like "Catradora" but then having the characters use Pinterest to share fandom content, which seems outdated.
There was also at least twice where Lily (Frey) mention either eating or hugging a cactus and that was just an odd bit that stood out to me.
The story itself had a lot of potential and I was interested in seeing how Frey would manage to turn the tide on having the white male writers change Alietta's death, but I honestly didn't see any chemistry between them and Greta. I know a lot of it was meant to come from "Aida", but when your characters spend most of the book not knowing the real person they're talking to, it takes away from any rapport that's been built.
Thank you to Net Galley for making this book available in exchange for an honest review!
Having any nonbinary/transmasculine characters is so refreshing to me when I think I read maybe one book with a gay character in it growing up, so to see the kind of progress that's being made is wonderful. And also to have an asexual character, which are even rarer to come across! Lily (Frey's, I don't want to deadname them but I'm not sure how to go about it in a review without causing confusion if people haven't read the book) struggle with gender and dysphoria, even in such a public setting, was something I could relate to.
There was great commentary on how "bury your gays" is still so prominent in media (see Killing Eve) and how harmful it is to have actors of color act out story lines that play into stereotypes (like a black man killing the white love interest) as well as how being out and queer can still hinder an actor's career.
But also have pop culture references always been so popular in YA? I know I read a lot when I was younger and I've been reading more again, but I feel like a lot of what I've read recently has had an over the top amount. There was also an odd shift between current references like "Catradora" but then having the characters use Pinterest to share fandom content, which seems outdated.
There was also at least twice where Lily (Frey) mention either eating or hugging a cactus and that was just an odd bit that stood out to me.
The story itself had a lot of potential and I was interested in seeing how Frey would manage to turn the tide on having the white male writers change Alietta's death, but I honestly didn't see any chemistry between them and Greta. I know a lot of it was meant to come from "Aida", but when your characters spend most of the book not knowing the real person they're talking to, it takes away from any rapport that's been built.
Thank you to Net Galley for making this book available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
Moderate: Deadnaming, Classism, Racism, Sexism, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, and Cancer
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