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anna_brawn'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: Homophobia, Rape, Transphobia, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Racism, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Deadnaming
danimacuk'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: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Rape, Body shaming, Child abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Self harm
chloe_601's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The book does try to take on a lot, though; it tries to do sci-fi, fantasy, a refugee family fleeing an intergalactic war, and a trans runaway who wants to play violin. I’m not sure if it worked combining the spaceship and alien technology with demons and souls. But there were a lot of parts I liked, especially the depiction of the San Gabriel Valley and the diverse cultures and people all living their lives. The place seemed to come alive.
Overall, some elements of the story didn’t quite work and wrapped up a bit too neatly, but the story itself had a lot of heart and made me feel like maybe things will be alright.
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, and Deadnaming
thenextbookdilemma'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia and Deadnaming
spikehype'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
4.75
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship
ncq's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
Also features sex work throughout, but without being anti-sex workpan_dulce08's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
For example,
Sorry this is so long... I enjoyed a lot of aspects and characters from the book when I read it, but a lot of things about it bothered me as well and I wanted to talk about those things...
Graphic: Outing, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Misogyny, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Racism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism
scmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Outing, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Transphobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Gore
spadedigsbutts'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
2.5
Speaking on the story of the book, it's hard to really call it a story. It would be easier to call it a slice of life with fantastical elements and characters interacting until the last fourth of the book where more of a plot with the central protagonist, Katarina, comes up and we get some much needed payoff to her and Shizuka's arcs. If there is anything to say about this book, it is that almost everything with Katarina and Shizuka is excellent!! I loved seeing Katarina come into her own and gain confidence under the protection of her strong and loving mentor figure. While the book never once made me believe Shizuka would sacrifice Katarina, the inherent drama of the possibility and what they're willing to do for each other is great! If this book had just been about them and condensed to cut the many many side characters I would have rated it like a 4 minimum. Even if you don't read the whole book, read Katarina's stuff!! It's really good!! Unfortunately the biggest weakness of the book is Shizuka's love interest, the space refuge Lan, who just constantly feels out of place in the book. I wouldn't contribute this lack of cohesion to the fact everything else in the book is mundane or magical and Lan's parts of the story are super sci-fi, as I've seen other books do similar successfully, but that she never quite gets integrated into any one character's life. Even Shizuka, who is Lan's romantic interest, just has entire scenes and arcs going on independent of her to the point I forget Lan exists until she appears. Lan comes with a number of plot points and character arcs that unfortunately just flat out don't get a resolution, like with her son who
Anyways, if none of these are deal breakers for you, go read it!! Katarina's trans coming-of-age story is really good!! Unfortunately everything surrounding it is just very messy and underwritten and I wish i could have liked it more.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Bullying, Body shaming, Transphobia, and Outing
Moderate: Abandonment, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Violence, Colonisation, Alcohol, Child death, Deportation, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Classism, and Murder
Minor: War and Confinement
This book absolutely digs and then dwells in real-world racism, transphobia, and other bigotries. If you want more of an escapist trans story without real-world bigotries, absolutely put this one down. If you're looking for more cathartic real-world brutal depictions of transphobia, etc. you might like this.nataliation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, War, Hate crime, Self harm, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming