It's been a while since I read the first book and I was super excited to read the next installation, but this book was not good at all. The ml Ambrose and mc Lily are made perfectly for each other as they both share ignorant and racist mindset towards anybody other than British people. Lily's feminism sucks and Ambrose hates the working class, is misogynistic, and as pointed out racist. I understand the book is a time period piece but I expected some redeeming qualities from the characters. It's not difficult to make your characters not racist or at least have them not constantly comment negatively about cultures they are not familiar with. It's an unnecessary quality to add and makes connecting or liking the characters impossible as this is what the audience is supposed to do. We're supposed to like Lily and Ambrose and root for them as a couple but when they're actions aren't good and even as bad as the main villain of the series, the book loses all its charm. Lily's feminism completely misses the point of feminism and she has her fair share of internalized misogyny when commenting about the Egyption women's veiling. The author should have done a better job understanding what feminism is because constantly spewing "I hate men" is not feminism in any context. I also found it weird how easily she could kill people in the story and not feel any sense of guilt or remorse. Lily is a one dimensional character at best and not fleshed out as well as she could have been. I'm not sure who the audience for the series is, but I would not recommend this series at all. I was excited to read this series as it contained many tropes I enjoyed, but the writing and plot made it difficult to continue. I only finished the book because my car broke down and I had nothing else to do for several hours. Otherwise, I would have dnfed the book as soon as I could.

Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

The Plague by Albert Camus

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Content Warnings

Bunny by Mona Awad

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

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adventurous sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

The book had more potential than it offered. The world building is creative and unique but the author does not focus on this point rather the two main characters. This story could have easily been a fantasy adventure story or the author could have created a series of short selections that still have the diversity by exploring how death comes for varying lives. This would have been an excellent way for the younger audience to learn about different cultures, sexualities, and more. Also, given the two mcs were on a time crunch, it was a kind of waste to focus on their friends. The author could have incorporated their importance another way to still carry out the twist

the audience is led to believe that Peck was going to the reason they both die at the end but obviously wasn’t. The language is easy to follow, but at some points I lost interest. It wasn’t a bad read but wasn’t the best either.

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melrosemeltdown's reviews 28 reviews

melrosemeltdown's reviews
28 reviews