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colorcrystals'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
The story is presented in two timelines and 3 points of view. Lala is a Romani girl in 1518 forced to hide her heritage and her love for the trans boy her aunt has raised. The second timeline is in the modern day, with our narrators being Emil and Rosella. Emil is Romani, and has purposefully not learned his family’s history to distance himself from it. Rosella is Latina and proud of her family and heritage, but still strives to fit in with the other girls.
I have to be honest, it took a little bit for me to really get into the book. But once I hit like the 50% mark, I was hooked. The prose is absolutely gorgeous. The terms “rich” and “lucious” come to mind. This is a very lyrical, poetic style that made the audiobook particularly nice to listen to. It artfully tackled topics racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia in the most perfect way. The characters were wonderfully developed and multifaceted. My only issue was that it took so long for me to get truly sucked in.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Classism, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Antisemitism
tahsintries's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
iridium's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Bullying
sarahaf712's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Outing, Racism, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Transphobia
Minor: Biphobia, Classism, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Genocide, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Police brutality
clarabooksit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Antisemitism
annalisaely'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
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
drp_moonlight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The book alternates between 3 POV characters (Lala, Emil, and Rosella) but the extremely short chapters cut into each character's limited development. On top of that, Alifair (Lala's love interest) was ignored almost until the end. Emil and Rosella are supposed to follow the trope of childhood friends to lovers but there is nothing to actually develop them as such. They barely interact until they are together.
The writing dragged on and on without going anywhere. It took nearly half the pages to get to the plot. I was bored out of my mind half the time. The only time I left my stupor was when McLemore would reuse the phrase "given a girl's name at birth". When I first read this phrase in Rojas, I was enthralled by it's magic but by the 5th time in this book I was annoyed.
The ending was sweet, though unrealistic, but this is a fairytale after all.
In conclusion, read Rojas instead. It's the same plot with better writing and pacing.
Graphic: Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Blood
Minor: Sexual content
mandkips'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
3.75
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Racism, and Torture
Minor: Homophobia
erinsbookshelves'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
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Transphobia, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Antisemitism, Ableism, and Violence
forcedtoland'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? It's complicated
4.5
a book just as touching as it is enchanting! the writing is beautiful, and i loved reading through the different characters’ perspectives. i really felt for them, although i have to admit i was much more invested in lala & alifair’s storyline than the 21st century one.
i would have loved to see more of alifair, actually, but i think i’m just being biased because i love alifair too much. have i mentioned i love alifair? because i do. love alifair i mean.
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Transphobia
Minor: Homophobia