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static_radio's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rereader33's review against another edition
1.0
This is hard to review, mostly because as a cisgender straight female, I don't think I have the experience or the knowledge to determine whether the aspects I found to be problematic are, indeed, problematic. As such, I'm going to go over my problems with the narrative and ONLY the narrative. This includes story, characters, pacing, and writing. I'm not going to discuss trans or gay topics because, and I cannot stress this enough, I have no personal experience (aside from having gay friends) and have no other queer knowledge aside from what I've read on the internet and I don't think I have to tell you why that hardly counts. So, with that disclaimer out of the way, let's get down to business with this obvious statement: I didn't like this book.
The story was intriguing and I did enjoy this premise, but HOLY SHIT did it go off the rails towards the end. The ending chapter kind of brought it back together, but DAMN the amount of drama and magical realism bullshit made it hard to take this story seriously. I think the author bit off way more than he could chew and it definitely shows in the final third of the book. The pacing was honestly the best part of this story, making it a fast read. I think the other big issue I had with the story was that there were way too many subplots going on, and some of those subplots only showed up to create more drama.
AND OH MY GOSH, THE DRAMA. Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I love me some good drama, but this was WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH. Between Sam's curse, his family, the Shangri-La, Tom Swift, and Linda, it was so fucking overwhelming to the point that I couldn't focus. It was like the author wanted all of these terrible things to happen at once to make Sam's life horrible, but really just one or two would have sufficed. On top of that, the main drama between Sam and Tom is removed with two "I'm sorry" moments, nice to see all that build up resolved SO FUCKING EASILY.
As for the characters, Sam was fine in the beginning but he kind of grated on my nerves after awhile. Tom I had major issues with, but I won't discuss them due to my aforementioned disclaimer. Everyone else was okay, but I don't think I'm going to remember any of them once I finish this review. The writing was fine, I guess, it was easy to understand and some of the dialogue was fun. That's about it, though.
I don't like giving this book such a low rating, but I have to be honest with myself. While the diversity was refreshing, the story tanked towards the last third, the characters rubbed me the wrong way, and the drama was too overwhelming. I don't recommend this book, but if you want to give it a chance be my guest.
The story was intriguing and I did enjoy this premise, but HOLY SHIT did it go off the rails towards the end. The ending chapter kind of brought it back together, but DAMN the amount of drama and magical realism bullshit made it hard to take this story seriously. I think the author bit off way more than he could chew and it definitely shows in the final third of the book. The pacing was honestly the best part of this story, making it a fast read. I think the other big issue I had with the story was that there were way too many subplots going on, and some of those subplots only showed up to create more drama.
AND OH MY GOSH, THE DRAMA. Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I love me some good drama, but this was WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH. Between Sam's curse, his family, the Shangri-La, Tom Swift, and Linda, it was so fucking overwhelming to the point that I couldn't focus. It was like the author wanted all of these terrible things to happen at once to make Sam's life horrible, but really just one or two would have sufficed. On top of that, the main drama between Sam and Tom is removed with two "I'm sorry" moments, nice to see all that build up resolved SO FUCKING EASILY.
As for the characters, Sam was fine in the beginning but he kind of grated on my nerves after awhile. Tom I had major issues with, but I won't discuss them due to my aforementioned disclaimer. Everyone else was okay, but I don't think I'm going to remember any of them once I finish this review. The writing was fine, I guess, it was easy to understand and some of the dialogue was fun. That's about it, though.
I don't like giving this book such a low rating, but I have to be honest with myself. While the diversity was refreshing, the story tanked towards the last third, the characters rubbed me the wrong way, and the drama was too overwhelming. I don't recommend this book, but if you want to give it a chance be my guest.
kind_fiction's review against another edition
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
lee_readss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ljesica's review against another edition
4.0
This one was sweet and hopeful and heartbreaking and funny all at the same time. It was my first supernatural gay romance novel and I really enjoyed it.
Sam is 16. He'll be 17 soon and just has to get there without falling in love. Because his family has been cursed for generations. If you fall in love before you turn 17, that person will die.
Sam lives with his dad, grandma, great grandma, and great-great grandma. And they have a fantastic family dynamic. He also has his second family - Lola, Paloma and Farrah - the drag queens at the Shangri-La, the only gay bar within miles of their small town.
This book has everything. Curses, magic, a young guy man who is loved by his family and a young trans boy who is not accepted by his. It has drag queens and soft serve, ghosts and a dog named Millard Fillmore, hair metal and magical grannies. I liked it a lot.
Sam is 16. He'll be 17 soon and just has to get there without falling in love. Because his family has been cursed for generations. If you fall in love before you turn 17, that person will die.
Sam lives with his dad, grandma, great grandma, and great-great grandma. And they have a fantastic family dynamic. He also has his second family - Lola, Paloma and Farrah - the drag queens at the Shangri-La, the only gay bar within miles of their small town.
This book has everything. Curses, magic, a young guy man who is loved by his family and a young trans boy who is not accepted by his. It has drag queens and soft serve, ghosts and a dog named Millard Fillmore, hair metal and magical grannies. I liked it a lot.
petersenftleben's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, my heart! I haven't read a book in practically one sitting in a long, long time. I loved the combination of Broken Hearts Club and Practical Magic. Loved all the characters and the musical references. Sam makes some poor, impulsive choices, but what 16 year old doesn't? He regretted them, learned, and grew (though I do wish he apologized more). Unlike many in these reviews, I actually appreciated the discussion of pronouns and that Sam isn't perfect right away. It's an interesting dichotomy of drag vs. trans and the nuances within the queer spectrum that a 16 year old is still navigating. I was vigilant about misgendering, and I don't recall Sam ever doing so or deadnaming Tom unless he was forced to to keep his secret. It's a super sensitive (and narratively interesting) position to be in, and sometimes people make mistakes. Would I have liked to have seen a happier ending for Tom? Yeah. But I also feel we were prepared for something more realistic. This isn't a fairy tale.
alexisisreading's review against another edition
3.0
In Love & Other Curses the main character Sam’s curse is that if he falls in love before he turns 17, his love will die.
My thoughts about this book:
- I've read Michael Thomas Ford before and I like his writing style because it's as though the characters thought process is being directly put on the page which sort of makes the narrative seem more genuine.
- I loved the magic aspect of the book.
- The book was less of the love story like the title suggests and more of a coming of age story.
- The "love interest" of the book, Tom Swift, is a transgender boy who has an unsupportive family that constantly calls him by his birth name and misuses pronouns. On occasion Sam misgenders Tom when they are around Tom's family.
- There's one scene where Tom and Sam are fighting and Sam makes transphobic comments toward Tom which just felt very wrong and made me uncomfortable. Sam expresses his own discomfort after he says what he does...but he still said it so.
- At the end of the book there's an author note where it is expressed that Tom's experiences are not universal and that the author was taking various experiences from transgender friends and putting them into one character. In addition there is a resources page for transgender youth.
I definitely think the book has a solid coming of age vibe but I would caution reading because of certain aspects of transphobia from the main character.
My thoughts about this book:
- I've read Michael Thomas Ford before and I like his writing style because it's as though the characters thought process is being directly put on the page which sort of makes the narrative seem more genuine.
- I loved the magic aspect of the book.
- The book was less of the love story like the title suggests and more of a coming of age story.
- The "love interest" of the book, Tom Swift, is a transgender boy who has an unsupportive family that constantly calls him by his birth name and misuses pronouns. On occasion Sam misgenders Tom when they are around Tom's family.
- There's one scene where Tom and Sam are fighting and Sam makes transphobic comments toward Tom which just felt very wrong and made me uncomfortable. Sam expresses his own discomfort after he says what he does...but he still said it so.
- At the end of the book there's an author note where it is expressed that Tom's experiences are not universal and that the author was taking various experiences from transgender friends and putting them into one character. In addition there is a resources page for transgender youth.
I definitely think the book has a solid coming of age vibe but I would caution reading because of certain aspects of transphobia from the main character.
droar's review against another edition
2.0
hmmmmmmmmmm, I love the idea of this book. I'm 1,000,000% a sucker for weird family magic, especially when it's not the center of the story per say. Family curse stories are delicious & the drag aspect sounded like an interesting way to potentially explore the identity aspects of this particular curse story. But it just doesn't work. I think my number one problem with this book is that it did not deliver what the flap/goodreads summary/cover/vibe sold me. This is not inherently a bad thing, I quite like being surprised by books, but it is not so appetizing when combined with some of the worst character decision making I've seen in a while. I know teens are idiots, it's like their defining feature, but this was frankly painful to read in places despite it's realism. After all this 'romantic' madness goes down we suddenly seem to forget about the romantic interest & jump back to the curse plot line awkwardly. I'll give props for making the story twisty & tackling topics we don't see a ton in YA yet, but it just doesn't really work all around & made me feel intensely uncomfortable with many of the things it just shrugged off.