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themelleh 's review for:
Human Rites
by Juno Dawson
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
No
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publishers for the advance copy of this book. This review is completely unbiased and totally my own.
I'm not going to lie - I have been waiting for this book since the moment I finished The Shadow Cabinet. I was desperate to know what happened next because how dare Juno leave it like that. The Queen B novella satiated some of that desire, but the moment I got the approval email for Human Rites, I started reading - and I devoured it.
Our plot-heavy conclusion gives us a lot to take in, however Juno still manages to give us character growth. We've become attached to our Witchy sisters and knowing this was the end meant a lot of breath holding and frantic page turning. Peppered with quick quips and pop culture references that had me actually chuckling out loud (something very rare) Juno ties up the world that she has made very nicely. I love when an author can surprise me and I can't actually predict where they're going - Leonie and Chinara, especially fit this part.
I've only rated it 4.75/5 because it felt like the whole plotline with Ciara ended up very deus ex machina. Years and years in a coma, body swap with her twin, impersonation, body swap with her twin, self-sacrifice as some kind of repentance? Nah, also Lucifer was a bit more annoying than alluring. But that's just my personal opinion. I was hoping to see more of Leviathan (since we'd had 2 books of hearing about them.
Overall: I adored the ending to our trilogy about our Hebden Girls.
Also, as someone who loves in Swansea: most accurate description of our city centre ever.
I'm not going to lie - I have been waiting for this book since the moment I finished The Shadow Cabinet. I was desperate to know what happened next because how dare Juno leave it like that. The Queen B novella satiated some of that desire, but the moment I got the approval email for Human Rites, I started reading - and I devoured it.
Our plot-heavy conclusion gives us a lot to take in, however Juno still manages to give us character growth. We've become attached to our Witchy sisters and knowing this was the end meant a lot of breath holding and frantic page turning. Peppered with quick quips and pop culture references that had me actually chuckling out loud (something very rare) Juno ties up the world that she has made very nicely. I love when an author can surprise me and I can't actually predict where they're going - Leonie and Chinara, especially fit this part.
Overall: I adored the ending to our trilogy about our Hebden Girls.
Also, as someone who loves in Swansea: most accurate description of our city centre ever.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail