Reviews

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book because a lot of my issues with it can be explained by it being both a “cozy fantasy” and young adult. I did enjoy some things about it – the characters were interesting and all that. However, conflicts that should have been more serious are resolved almost instantly and with more compassion (from villains) than seems reasonable for anyone. Even the ending of the story with Iris making a choice about what to do next was too easy. Without spoiling too much, Marin never really proves themselves to be trust worthy and Iris feels too sheltered and naive to really be reliable in picking what she should do next. There’s a lot of reasons why she should escape her current life but it doesn’t feel like the found family she found is all that safe either. That said – how I feel about the ending of the book might be more about my personality (and age), along with the genres, than the story itself. One thing I did like was the way the Tarot cards were used in the story – there were a lot of good details about how they worked and how they helped Iris figure out what to do next. Not a series I’ll continue, but honestly if you like cozy fantasy with found family where things are resolved easily it might be more your cup of tea than mine.

grover_25's review

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2.0

What I liked:
-the representation of different people and identities
-magic
-Kalaya
-general premise of the book
-cover art
-the last 100 pages or so picked up a little which was nice

Not for me:
-the first ~230 pages of the book were hard to get through because I found them very boring, almost didn’t finish multiple times
-book seemed like it needed to be worked on a little more, like this was a draft instead of the final copy, the ideas were there but the execution was off
-while the representation was great, it seemed a little forced
-didn’t really care for any of the characters or whether they succeeded or not
-Syble was annoying to me, so gullible
-everything was just a little too convenient

Take my review with a grain of salt. I’m not a writer or editor, and could never imagine writing a book.

grace_koalateareads's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li is a queer-centric fantasy novel about found family, tarot cards, magic and standing up to what’s right.

I adored how much representation was included (see below), there’s definitely something for everyone here. However, something just fell a bit flat for me. Although the actual plot is set over the course of a week or so, it felt painfully slow at times and I really had to make myself finish it. And I’m glad I did, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t as fleshed out as I would have liked. I’m really looking forward to the next book though and seeing how the characters develop.

If you’re a fan of Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda, Slipping The Noose by Meg Caddy or The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall - then this book is for you!

Representation in alphabetical order: ADHD, Anxiety, Aromantic, Asexual, Autism, Bisexual, Deaf, Family based trauma, Gay, Genderfluid, Half blind, Lesbian, Mute, Non-binary, People of colour, Queer, Sign Language

Content Warnings (provided by the author): references and themes to absent parent(s), alcohol consumption, anxiety, assault, drowning, emotional abuse, family-based trauma, fantasy racism and violence, hallucinations, hostages, imprisonment, kidnapping, occult, panic attacks and verbal abuse.

chippyreads's review

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3.0

Loved the found family and use of tarot cards. writing felt a little clunky with forced conflict that made no sense

sustainably_lucia's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

This book has a lot going for it; the premise, world, and characters are interesting and I appreciate the way pronouns and disabilities are discussed so naturally. The issue I had was that I didn’t feel immersed in the story while reading. The style and tone of the writing didn’t flow for me and parts of the plot didn’t feel believable. The dialogue felt contrived and conflicts were quickly resolved. It felt like a snackable read rather than something to sink my teeth into. I still enjoyed the story and I hope this author keeps writing.

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