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guessgreenleaf'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality and Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Alcohol and Homophobia
mandi_lea'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Blood, and Emotional abuse
grem_ler'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, and Homophobia
Moderate: Self harm and Police brutality
itsnotalakeitsanocean'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
4.25
What I liked
- We got to see the inner workings of what a freedom fighter support group looks like. I feel like most modern stories about rebellion and stuff focus far too much on the people on the frontlines, or imply that you are either with a rebellion on the frontlines or against it completely which is just not true.
- In a similar vein,
the revolution is presented in a way that suggests there isn't a "one size fits all" clean solution, which is crucial to stories like this. People fighting will get brutalised, people's entire legacies will be destroyed in an instant through death or destruction. Emezi doesn't spare killing off characters or injuring them just because they're on the side of revolution or allied with it. Not only that, they do it with the appropriate amount of gravity that doesn't wallow in angst to the point of narm. - Perhaps a controversial opinion but I liked Bitter's hesitance and guilt over not being able to do anything. I think it's all too easy to expect characters to be willing to jump into the fray, with any doubts or hesitations easily fixed for plot convenience (something that with Black characters runs the risk of portraying stereotypes). Bitter has a lot of trauma to unpack about being shifted from foster home to foster home - each with their own problems that wore her down over the years. Of course she's going to be hesitant to leave the one place she's only just found is safe in her life.
Of course this mindset is challenged and approached from various different perspectives instead of coddling her safety in favour of larger community safety, but I found it refreshing that Bitter's mindset was portrayed and given respect whilst doing so. - Lots of amazing queer relationships and characters that were normalised and given the approriate amount of focus when necessary without slowing down the plot. I also really liked Ube in general - he's a really cool guy who just happens to be a wheelchair user.
What I didn't like
- The only thing I didn't care for was how quickly Aloe and Bitter got together. However, this is a very small, easily overlooked problem because they are one of the healthiest couples I've read in a while (not that I don't like a messy couple from time to time), and unlike a lot of other modern couples, they put in the effort to love each other and you can see why they love each other so much.
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
saphfics'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? No
4.75
Especially in times like these it can be hard to really construct a world that can be better even in our imagination. But in pet and bitter, shows us that that world could be possible but that it will be something that we need to fight for.
I hope we all can see that world some day
PS. I would recommend reading Pet first
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Police brutality, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Rape
thebookworm_queen'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
Filled with so many inspirational and comforting lines; I cried! Almost better than PET the first book that introduced us to Lucille, almost 😉
Moderate: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Self harm
hailstorm3812'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
4.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Death, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Abandonment, and Body horror
Minor: Trafficking, Antisemitism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
archiveofrasa's review against another edition
3.5
but overall this wasn't bad! I preferred Pet due to its focus into a fewer selection of themes and how much more it explored them
Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Homophobia
eni_iilorak'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Cursing
Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Homophobia, and Biphobia