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else's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I love the adventure and the concept and the writing.
It's gay and queer and I love that. But why does the author completely ignore the concept of bisexuality. One of the characters keeps wondering if he's gay when he dated a girl for 3 years and he never wonders wether he's bi. It's weird to completely ignore the word and the concept in these circumstances. It feels like bi-erasure to me.
It's gay and queer and I love that. But why does the author completely ignore the concept of bisexuality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Vomit
allygator's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
As much as I hate to do this, I'm dropping my review of this from 5 to 4 stars.
And before I get any further -- that's not a bad thing!! I think I've just matured as a reader and as a person in general, and that's had an effect on my thoughts on this book.
First, as much as I love Simon, I spent the entire first 150 pages just waiting for Baz to show up. The build-up of anticipation is well written, I just think it goes on for like 50 pages too long.
Once Baz gets there, though, the pacing of the book immediately picks up. The next 200-300 pages feel like nothing. I sped through them like I didn't have class to go to and homework to do. I adore the narration from all the characters, and the minute the plot picks up it doesn't let go until the book ends.
Also, and forgive me for saying this because I truly truly love Simon and Baz and them together, there were moments, especially right after they got together, that felt a little toxic. There's so many moments where Baz (or Simon) should apologize for something he says or does, and neither of them ever do. There's a lot of unresolved conflict between the two of them, and honestly after this reread I think I'm going to appreciate Wayward Son a lot more.
I think the first times I read this book, I read it with rose colored glasses, and now that I'm reading it for the first time in a couple years, I'm realizing some of the problems with it that I hadn't noticed the first few times around. Little things that aren't big issues in the grand scheme of things, but make a difference as I'm reading this with more queer fantasy novels under my belt.
A few things that could make it better? I'm glad you asked:
- Acknowledgement from Baz that his family was kind of terrible and has bad views about the world and about magic
- Slightly more consistent pacing
- Fixing of the (sometimes more than) slight biphobia that is mentioned more than once after Simon gets with Baz (I have heard that this gets addressed in Any Way the Wind Blows though, so I'll have to get to that to be sure)
- Just a tiny, tiny bit of development between Simon and Baz between when they argue and when they're hopelessly in love -- the jump from the night after the fire to the moment in the White Chapel is jarring
Anyways, this is still a massively comforting read to me, and some quotes still take my breath away ("You were the sun, and I was crashing into you" -- excuse me??? crisis time). Definitely still a solid read, and one that I'll definitely read again. Looking forward to reading the sequels with more mature eyes!
And before I get any further -- that's not a bad thing!! I think I've just matured as a reader and as a person in general, and that's had an effect on my thoughts on this book.
First, as much as I love Simon, I spent the entire first 150 pages just waiting for Baz to show up. The build-up of anticipation is well written, I just think it goes on for like 50 pages too long.
Once Baz gets there, though, the pacing of the book immediately picks up. The next 200-300 pages feel like nothing. I sped through them like I didn't have class to go to and homework to do. I adore the narration from all the characters, and the minute the plot picks up it doesn't let go until the book ends.
Also, and forgive me for saying this because I truly truly love Simon and Baz and them together, there were moments, especially right after they got together, that felt a little toxic. There's so many moments where Baz (or Simon) should apologize for something he says or does, and neither of them ever do. There's a lot of unresolved conflict between the two of them, and honestly after this reread I think I'm going to appreciate Wayward Son a lot more.
I think the first times I read this book, I read it with rose colored glasses, and now that I'm reading it for the first time in a couple years, I'm realizing some of the problems with it that I hadn't noticed the first few times around. Little things that aren't big issues in the grand scheme of things, but make a difference as I'm reading this with more queer fantasy novels under my belt.
A few things that could make it better? I'm glad you asked:
- Acknowledgement from Baz that his family was kind of terrible and has bad views about the world and about magic
- Slightly more consistent pacing
- Fixing of the (sometimes more than) slight biphobia that is mentioned more than once after Simon gets with Baz (I have heard that this gets addressed in Any Way the Wind Blows though, so I'll have to get to that to be sure)
- Just a tiny, tiny bit of development between Simon and Baz between when they argue and when they're hopelessly in love -- the jump from the night after the fire to the moment in the White Chapel is jarring
Anyways, this is still a massively comforting read to me, and some quotes still take my breath away ("You were the sun, and I was crashing into you" -- excuse me??? crisis time). Definitely still a solid read, and one that I'll definitely read again. Looking forward to reading the sequels with more mature eyes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Biphobia
manarnia's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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
I find the second half of this book to be really fun and engaging, but the first half of the book drags for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia, Abandonment, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Bullying and Vomit
iamkiaraayleen's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Vomit, Biphobia, Child death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and War
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