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litliz'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual content, Classism, Confinement, Abandonment, Death, Vomit, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Outing, Bullying, Animal death, Murder, Grief, Dysphoria, War, Suicide, and Pregnancy
danicakvcs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, War, Death of parent, Animal death, and Murder
berglindsh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Classism and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty
phoebemurtagh's review
- 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: Violence, Blood, Vomit, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: Death of parent and Animal cruelty
oliverreeds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Grief, Mental illness, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Child death, Cursing, Murder, and Violence
storykath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
First of all, the whole premise of this series is the perfect mix of thrilling and dark and ingenious. The attention to detail and the immersive storytelling create a fantastic atmosphere. Even though this is the second book, there's still a decent amount of time spent on explanations/worldbuilding, and one of my few criticisms would be that these explanatory snippets, though interesting and relevant, sometimes interrupted the plot in an awkward place. We'd stop in the middle of a conversation to dissect some interesting tidbit, and by the time the conversation went on I'd forgotten what was going on. It was all still interesting to read and I didn't mind it much.
The character growth in this book, especially compared to the first book, is fairly slow and subtle, but it comes through like a punch to the gut at the best moments. Especially towards the end, there were many moments where I audibly gasped or made other incredulous gestures as the threads all tied together. Sometimes it was painful to see the characters apparently not growing or changing for most of the novel, but in retrospect it was an intentional choice to portray them that way, especially since the story is from El's perspective, who doesn't always pick up on what's going on behind the scenes in other people's lives.
It had been over a year since I read ADE, so I was a bit lost at the start of this book - there's not much of a recap or handy reminders to jog your memory, but a quick Google search solved that for me.
The writing style is amazing. There are vivid (and sometimes appropriately disturbing) descriptions, and El's voice as a teenager with the world on her shoulders was authentic, exciting, and often hilarious! Despite the darker contents of the book, El's narration and quick wit provided some great laugh-out-loud comic relief.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Murder, and Pregnancy
nutm3g's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Genocide, Homophobia, and Murder
stephernay's review
- 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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, and Vomit
purplatypus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death