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sihah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
So I ended up DNFing this book at 88%, so I'm counting it as read. The reason I decided not to complete this is because they VERY POINTEDLY
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Racism
q_bert13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexism, Outing, and Medical trauma
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
leedolee'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Torture, Violence, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
20sidedbi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The last couple chapters of this book bumped it up from a 2 to a 3⭐ for me. It's really cool to see an ending with
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
Horrorbookishpriest's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Emile is a young man about to come of age and receive his substantial inheritance when his aunt discovers that he is gay. She threatens to institutionalize him if he does not marry a woman and produce an heir, something Emile cannot reconcile himself or the potential bride to.
Emile flees his home and seeks to remain hidden from society until he comes of age and can claim his inheritance on his own terms. He is quickly embroiled in a love triangle with two older, dashing men. As he tries to sort out his heart, Emile stumbles across hints of some truly creepy goings-on around his new home. The plot gets thicker and thicker as he investigates.
The Alchemy of Moonlight creates a great atmosphere with plenty of creepy moments. There is a genuine feeling of dread and, though many of the tropes are familiar and predictable, they are enjoyable just the same. The writing and pacing are good and I found myself looking forward to coming back for the next instalment. I was also impressed with how Ferraro manages to convey the depth of tension and feeling in the love triangle in ways that keep the book firmly in YA-acceptable territory.
The audiobook narration is well done and makes for a pleasant listen.
The book isn't perfect, however. The characters felt a bit flat. Emile exercised very little agency until the last pages of the book, disappointing for a main character with a good setup. There were a few plot points that felt too convenient and the ending of the book was more seamless than I thought realistic, given everything else going on.
Overall, this was a good read and a nice nod to the gothic horror genre.
Graphic: Gore and Body horror
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia
Minor: Vomit