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coronet 's review for:
When the Tides Held the Moon
by Venessa Vida Kelley
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
First off—this book is pretty. The illustrations and everything else really stand out to me. I love seeing a book that was crafted with love in every aspect. This also extends to the prose, there were some genuinely moving and well-worded lines I just had to annotate.
Even though I'm far from sharing experiences with Benigno, I could relate to him a lot and truly felt his relief in the end. There are some pretty important messages in the book and the author was very careful in how they presented them, which I appreciate.
However, I can't help to notice that knowing Spanish definitely helps to truly enjoy this book (which I sadly do not and therefore had to look a lot of the words up, which always takes me out of immersion) and that some of the plot and character development felt rather predictable. I would have liked more nuances, since it felt like I had seen these exact characters before in other works and thus I enjoyed the vibes more than the actual plot (which also felt a bit rushed at times), which is also the reason for my high rating, since I just loved the tenderness in the romance!
Even though I'm far from sharing experiences with Benigno, I could relate to him a lot and truly felt his relief in the end. There are some pretty important messages in the book and the author was very careful in how they presented them, which I appreciate.
However, I can't help to notice that knowing Spanish definitely helps to truly enjoy this book (which I sadly do not and therefore had to look a lot of the words up, which always takes me out of immersion) and that some of the plot and character development felt rather predictable. I would have liked more nuances, since it felt like I had seen these exact characters before in other works and thus I enjoyed the vibes more than the actual plot (which also felt a bit rushed at times), which is also the reason for my high rating, since I just loved the tenderness in the romance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Outing
Moderate: Homophobia