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ka_cam'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Abortion, Racism, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Bullying, and Rape
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Suicide, and War
Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Death, Sexism, and Transphobia
Minor: Genocide, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Genocide, and Gun violence
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Animal death, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Sexism, Racism, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Rape, Torture, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Sexual content, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Self harm, and Drug use
Major: queer used as a slur 6 times, loss of a loved one, bioessentialism, eugenics, misgendering Minor: suicide ideationbrekaboujie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It was also super immersive - I was completely sucked into this world and every scene and section felt necessary and useful to the plot (seems a low bar but honestly such a relief after my recent reads which were not like that at all), and I loved how everything kept falling into place perfectly set up from the previous scenes and knowledge I'd been given.
Also the end !!!!!!!!!! Heck yeah. Solid ending. Love a good ending.
Final point - it's quite an intense book, and the version I read had content warnings at the beginning which was cool. I will say that everything was done really sensitively and well - very little explicit showing of the nasty content warnings, much more themed and just general knowledge of things Just Being Like That. It did remind me a bit of The Handmaid's Tale thematically, but imagine that's a side plot and it's not quite as bad and also they're in space and have guns. So nothing like it really. But regardless, there was a point towards the end of this bookwhere in my mind I literally went WOMEN YES WOMEN THE CONNECTION OF UNIVERSAL SUFFERING !!!!! So enjoy that moment if you read this. Great book.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, War, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Genocide
Minor: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Abortion, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
A lot of heavy themes but all dealt with sensitively! There is one scene where somonehanz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Sexism, Transphobia, Genocide, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Ableism, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
milliemudd's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, War, Child abuse, and Genocide
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Bullying, Racism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Abortion and Misogyny
toopunkrockforshul'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Grief, Death, Xenophobia, Cursing, Violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Suicide, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Genocide, Rape, and Pregnancy
Minor: Police brutality, Racism, Incest, Abortion, and Outing
waqupi's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
Minor: Gun violence, Abortion, Racism, Homophobia, and Rape
haleywofford's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, War, and Torture
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
buff_dude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book discusses some important topics, including radicalisation, child soldiers and grooming, and it keeps these issues at the centre of its plot without desensitising the reader from them by heaping all of them in at once. It's not just an information dump either - the characters are genuinely engaging, which makes it all the more impactful when you see the effects of their soldier upbringing.
The plot follows the de-brainwashing of the protagonist, including the realisation of her anger towards an abuser, and love towards her friends and family. There's nothing quite as inspiring as seeing her embrace herself and break out of a sea of trauma.
That said, I'm not about to pretend that the world building was flawless. There were large swathes of exposition that I'm not even going to try understanding. I still don't know who was on which side of what war but the main point of the book was war bad so I suppose it's not a big deal. The plot itself tends to get messy around midway to 3/4 of the way through the book, but power through it and you will be rewarded. (I have a whole set of sticky flags around that bit with the same note: what the fuck is happening.)
Overall an eye-opening read worth the time. If you're considering picking this up and care about characters being lovable, note that a lot of them, especially the protagonist, are not, but this is mainly due to a very very rough upbringing that they learn to grow out of.
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: War, Child abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Minor: Abortion and Animal death