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rwn_tree's Reviews (121)
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For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
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emotional
hopeful
reflective
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
wrecked me thoroughly, and repeatedly
hamilton if it was about greek myth, but lin manuel miranda had a severe concussion and the writing style of rupi kaur
challenging
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
oh man, okay. i have a lot of thoughts about this book, but tldr: it was pretty good, despite its flaws.
now, for a more in depth critique:
1. the most developed characters are benji, nick and theo, in my opinion. everyone else is just sorta there. benji says they're his friends and they're so close, but it just... isn't really shown on page. i had to take notes on the minor characters in order to remember who was who.
now, for a more in depth critique:
1. the most developed characters are benji, nick and theo, in my opinion. everyone else is just sorta there. benji says they're his friends and they're so close, but it just... isn't really shown on page. i had to take notes on the minor characters in order to remember who was who.
2. the diversity is a little awkward. while im a huge supporter of representation as a trans and gay person myself, i just can't say i liked it. makes me cringe a little when a character feels like they're made to check boxes first and be a person second, i suppose.
it's the first thing we find out about pretty much every side character, iirc. "this one is gay, this one is trans, this one is sapphic," etc. it's not a problem, per se, because representation is needed and important, but it didn't feel super natural in this book.
3. the writing style was just... okay. the gore was pretty well done, and there were moments that made me genuinely sad/feel for the characters, but it is a little lacking in descriptions and, as i mentioned in point 1, telling not showing.
i struggled to picture what things looked like, especially buildings. i have no clue what the alc was supposed to look like. this could be a me problem, but idk.
4. another personal one, i guess, but i just couldn't for the life of me decide my feelings on the book. i went from "wow, this is actually peak" to "oh, maybe not..." too many times to give this a rating higher than 3-4 stars.
5. petty and personal, but ohmygod i could NOT stand salvador, im so sorry. reminded me of 2015 in the worst way (i cant put it into words, but each time xe was on page i would cringe and/or roll my eyes)
building off this point, the author describes the book as written by "a bitter, terrified boy barely out of his teens," and im afraid it shows </3 there are some parts that made me feel like i aged 100 years (reading "yeet" written on page in the big 2025 made my eyes glaze over)
REGARDLESS!!! this was a genuinely pretty good ya novel (i'm 18 now, so i'm probably slowly slipping out of that target audience, and that's probably why it didn't 100% mesh with me).
there was gay and trans rep front and centre, there was religious trauma, if that's your thing, there was a well earned good ending. honestly, i cant complain too much. it was solid premise, despite the flaws in its execution, and i look forward to checking out more of ajw's books. i heard that this is his debut, so i have faith that as he develops and grows as a writer, the aforementioned problems are smoothed over :)