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parasolcrafter'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
1.5
the main characters were fine, but they all just seemed shallow which is a shame because i saw potential for them all. this book needed to be longer and , frankly, better written. the pacing of this story is way off and it makes the relationship between gio and david very rushed into; the amount of pop-culture references was annoying as hell; the near therapy-level of speak from everyone is flat-out unrealistic and sterilized; and the shoe-horned in dialogue of things that just feel like bullet-points of inclusion is just sloppy, honestly. like...i dont get what this book was really trying to do? like, everything was just surface level and hardly explored or expanded upon, which is unfortunate because it had so many good things going for it! it really didnt work on anything it tried to touch on.
Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Drug use
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Child abuse, Homophobia, Biphobia, Infidelity, and Classism
lqvekanej's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, and Biphobia
Moderate: Police brutality
thebuzzcutreads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, Abandonment, and Biphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Biphobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
booktribe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
And I really appreciated this quote in relation to the gang that runs the neighborhood: “They’re more like the Avengers of the hood. All they want to do is protect The Haven, but sometimes they make bad choices and fuck shit up. But so did Cap and Iron Man and Thor.” We never get the same grace for our bad decisions as white people do.
I loved Gio and his relationship with Theo, his little brother. I need to see more sibling relationships like this because it was so heartwarming. I also really loved Malik, Karina, Ayesha, and Ms. Diane. There were some amazing characters in this story! I didn’t feel a lot toward the love interest though. I thought he reacted very badly to a situation within the story and I just could never get over it🤷🏽♀️
Overall I just really enjoyed this book and I think it deserves way more hype!🙌🏽
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide
bluehairedlibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There are a lot of pop culture references, many of which seemed a bit odd for a teenager of this generation. A lot of the details didn’t into the flow of the writing for me either. But when I could get passed my issues with the writing, this is a beautiful story about a boy learning who and what he wants his family to be and finding a way to be brave in the face of adversity.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Homophobia
zombiezami'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
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Biphobia, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Drug use, and Death of parent
Gangs, death of a siblingxoodlebooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief and Racism
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Biphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Police brutality
Minor: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Death