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A review by citrus_seasalt
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I’m not in the target demographic, so take my review with a grain of salt.
By the time I put this on Goodreads, I'll keep it at a 3 stars regardless. (Even if it's my rating rounded up.) A librarian/friend recommended this to me, but unfortunately, I don't think Kyle Lukoff's writing is for me. I'll admit, the beginning hooked me in, and I was excited to see what the main friend dynamic would entail. Although... I didn't feel much of a true bond, or solidarity, the further into the book I got? I've read some pretty on-the-nose side characters in recent times, but for a book with messaging around not trivializing your friends and loved ones, and discouraging classic fantasy tropes that make anyone other than the Chosen One inferior, there wasn't a ton of complexity in the main cast. I felt bad for Sal throughout, though.
I didn’t hate A as much as other reviewers did. I felt his mindset was understandable for his age, the forces he was dealing with, suddenly being the subject of a hero’s journey when his self esteem had been torn apart for a while (honestly, my ego would’ve gotten out of hand, too), and trying to be jaded and mature even when all the other figures in his life—adults or kids— had been emotionally immature. Still, feeling for a character isn’t the same as liking them, and his growth was too brief for that to shift my opinion of him.
Some of the dialogue was awkward, too, whether that be the same rhetoric and perspective repeated several times over by the transphobic adult characters (look, I get focusing how people who can tolerate gay rights can hate trans people, especially in a progressive city like Seattle but there couldn’t at least be ONE registered republican the others “put their differences aside” to be friends with? Really? I feel like that’s super common ), or a superficial focus on different labels (I had to write down that scene with Razor in my notes, I hated that all their guesses were right). I feel like that extends to the golem thing, too, because it kinda just drops in to be vaguely helpful, speaks in occasional slang despite its ancientness, and leaves.
I don’t feel like giving this a 1 star because there were still characters I liked (the Singers, namely), the Shades were interesting and I appreciated them only partially being part of a broader allegory, I still thought that the experience of being a know-it-all queer youth was well-shown, and the Jewish mythos inclusion was cool to read about. In general, I liked the Jewishness in this book, I’m used to queer characters separating themselves from religion because of their identities, but it became an important and even validating part of A.
(And as a sidenote, I listened to the audiobook sample because I’m curious about how all the deadnames are narrated— did you know they’re censored with a kazoo?? It was a little uncanny at first, but it’s kinda funny.)
Overall, I’m frustrated. I had high hopes for this book, and its importance cannot be understated, but I disliked the execution. With that said, I’m curious about what kid readers think about it. (Though… I’m not sure if I know of any kids who would voluntarily read this? It’s heavy, and probably deeply triggering to the trans folks it’s aimed towards😭)
By the time I put this on Goodreads, I'll keep it at a 3 stars regardless. (Even if it's my rating rounded up.) A librarian/friend recommended this to me, but unfortunately, I don't think Kyle Lukoff's writing is for me. I'll admit, the beginning hooked me in, and I was excited to see what the main friend dynamic would entail. Although... I didn't feel much of a true bond, or solidarity, the further into the book I got? I've read some pretty on-the-nose side characters in recent times, but for a book with messaging around not trivializing your friends and loved ones, and discouraging classic fantasy tropes that make anyone other than the Chosen One inferior, there wasn't a ton of complexity in the main cast. I felt bad for Sal throughout, though.
I didn’t hate A as much as other reviewers did. I felt his mindset was understandable for his age, the forces he was dealing with, suddenly being the subject of a hero’s journey when his self esteem had been torn apart for a while (honestly, my ego would’ve gotten out of hand, too), and trying to be jaded and mature even when all the other figures in his life—adults or kids— had been emotionally immature. Still, feeling for a character isn’t the same as liking them, and his growth was too brief for that to shift my opinion of him.
Some of the dialogue was awkward, too, whether that be the same rhetoric and perspective repeated several times over by the transphobic adult characters (
I don’t feel like giving this a 1 star because there were still characters I liked (the Singers, namely), the Shades were interesting and I appreciated them only partially being part of a broader allegory, I still thought that the experience of being a know-it-all queer youth was well-shown, and the Jewish mythos inclusion was cool to read about. In general, I liked the Jewishness in this book, I’m used to queer characters separating themselves from religion because of their identities, but it became an important and even validating part of A.
(And as a sidenote, I listened to the audiobook sample because I’m curious about how all the deadnames are narrated— did you know they’re censored with a kazoo?? It was a little uncanny at first, but it’s kinda funny.)
Overall, I’m frustrated. I had high hopes for this book, and its importance cannot be understated, but I disliked the execution. With that said, I’m curious about what kid readers think about it. (Though… I’m not sure if I know of any kids who would voluntarily read this? It’s heavy, and probably deeply triggering to the trans folks it’s aimed towards😭)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Transphobia
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder
Several characters in this book are misgendered, including by the main character (although in his case, it’s by accident).