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steffandbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Half of the book I loved and the other half I was bored to death. Let’s start with the things I enjoyed.
Loved the short chapters and multiple POVs. Loved the love story between Hunter and Luna. Loved how Luna grew over the time span in the book and became her own person. Loved the writing style.
What I didn’t enjoy that there was so much happening and in the end also not. Like, don’t ask me what the plot was supposed to be of this book, I couldn’t tell you. Then so many things left unexplained and some rather questionable topics being mentioned in the book, but, again not really explained and rather brushed off. As a privileged white woman, I’m the last person to be able to talk about Chinese history, but I would’ve wished for things to be explained more, especially if you‘re covering topics that are not vastly discussed in the general public or school.
Overall, that left the story all over the place and the ending 🤨
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs
Cheatingashybear02'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
3.75
Minor: Sexual content, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
scrubsandbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Bullying, and Racism
kirstenf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: Racism and Violence
betweentheshelves'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
4.0
However, some of the jumping around did make it difficult to follow what was actually happening, plot wise. I think this was just part of the mythological aspect of the story, but there were times where I felt confused.
Loved learning more about Chinese mythology, though! And the central relationship was sweet and well developed. All in all, an enjoyable book.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Death
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Torture, Racism, and Sexual content
madisone'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: Child abuse and Bullying
Moderate: Infidelity and Chronic illness
Minor: Torture and Racism
maple_dove's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Racism
Family manipulation ("Birth family is more important than anything else")bookwormbullet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Infidelity and Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism
cuddlewithbooks's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
I adore this book. The narration by the two narrators was impeccable, they captured our two main characters as well as the other POVs in the book with such ease and grace. I was fully immersed in this story which was incredible retelling that I have never seen before - a blend of two different stories, one from Western culture and one from Eastern culture. It was so incredible to see the parts of Romeo and Juliet with parts of The Tale of Chang'e and Houyi. The story was strange with magic blending with the real world in such a visceral way but feeling as if the magic was not fully rooted in reality. It really felt like a myth coming to the real world.
It is not your typical narrative with multiple POVs to discuss how the parents and the antagonist were feeling at different times throughout the book. It wasn't necessarily straightforward but it added a magic to the story that was done so well.
The descriptions were beautiful and each scene had a purpose in explaining the characters, the predicament, or relating it to the myth that was certainly a part of their lives since birth.
Truly I am a sucker for anything about the moon and the descriptions of moonlight bringing colour back to Luna had me so hyped. And the descriptions of Luna's breath relieving Hunter of his pain were gorgrous.
Hunter's little brother Cody had me in the palm of his hand and each of the little parts of mythology coming to life were so fun to read about.
And yet, this book had a melancholy to it, written in the undercurrents of the story when not expressed outright. Even though I do not know the Tale of Chang'e and Houyi fully, I knew how it ended. And it made the trajectory of the story even more tragic.
If you are looking for a book that is strange in its execution but works well on so many levels, please try this out. I enjoyed listening to this book every second it was in my ear.
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Racism and Medical content
whatjasread'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
One of my favourite things about this book is that it doesn't shy away from important, difficult topics. They're not presented in an overwhelming or overbearing way, either. There's an argument to be made that it does fall too easily into the stereotype of the strict East Asian parent who is only ever focused on academic achievement and pushing their child to the limit. While it does, the book also pays important attention to political issues such as the Taiwan China conflict (which I'm genuinely intrigued about and will probably go and research more!) It also doesn't shy away from open discussion of periods - blood, cramps and everything in between. It seems like such a minor thing, but it's so important, especially in YA.
The ending was just phenomenal, I think if similar snippets had been woven throughout more than just in the journal, it would have been amazing and added a bit more to the story. I adore all the relationships in this book, particularly between Hunter and his younger brother Cody! There were some storylines which I didn't much care about (Rodney, mostly), but otherwise this book surprised me in a good way!
TWs: asthma attacks, racism, sexism, overbearing parents, strained family relationships, cheating, financial difficulty, child abuse, depression
Graphic: Death, Bullying, and Child abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Sexism, Torture, and Racism