Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - We Ride Upon Sticks

Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

37 reviews

emilyorrwhat's review

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

Overall, it’s just fine. It was fun to get immersed in the 80s in New England and was good for a casual read, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone for the following reasons:

I found the writing style hard to follow. I read it over the course of a few months, so it was hard to track the nuances of each character.

I also felt that the ending was a bit lazy. It felt like there a lot of build up, just for it to end the way it did.

Maybe I’m alone in this, but I also thought the representation felt a bit performative at times?

For example, Sebastian — the stereotypical flamboyantly out kid — becomes a drag star. I did really like the storyline between Julie’s mom and Heather Houston’s mom, but other representations fell flat for me.

I also found it really strange how the end of the book tries to justify an adult/minor relationship? Maybe I’m out of pocket for taking that away from the ending, but the whole “oh Coach Mullins was only in his early 20s so it’s actually not that bad!” Tidbit at the end really threw me for a loop, especially since the rest of the book felt like it was pretty progressive?? It was giving Aria and Ezra Pretty Little Liars vibe and I was not a fan

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cruel's review against another edition

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funny mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

mel boucher i'm sorry i was not your author

that ending sucked so bad that it took what would've been a 3 all the way done to a 1 - my biggest problem with it being

the weird justification of mel's relationship with coach mullins

. it seemed like it was going to tackle a lot of issues but instead just brushed over them and went with a very shallow, liberal feminist message.

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faeriefangss's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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luckykosmos's review

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funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I adore stories about messy teen girls being weird and taking on the world, and this was that without question. I loved watching them grow and support one another and lean into the weirdness of their situation. Barry's prose is sharp and snappy and as much part of the setting and the cast, looping you in as one of the team and part of their psychic connection.

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concertconfetti's review against another edition

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dark funny inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

Amazing. I rarely hear stories about high school that resonate with me and this certainly did. As one of the weird jocks - swimmers and the field hockey team are sisters in weird sports - this reminded me of what it felt like to be an awkward teen who's neurodivergent and queer but doesn't have the language yet. I wish I'd had teammates like the Danvers 89 field hockey team. It was sweet and harsh and difficult and full of hunger and love and community actualization. Knocked a half a point for occasional clunkiness of comparisons between 2019 and 1989.

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emily_stimmel's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Forget anything you’ve read comparing this to Yellowjackets, Heathers, or The Secret History. The witchcraft element never really amounts to much and nothing about this book is very dark or mysterious — though it is confusing at times! I also found some anachronisms very distracting. The 1989 angle was really played up but at least a handful of references were to things that didn’t even exist until the mid-nineties. That said, I found the backstories of each character engaging and they all had some endearing traits that made me invested in finding out what happened to them.

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elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective slow-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

5.0

This is the most unique book I read this year, possibly ever. Bray's writing style was a little odd at first but once I was in I was in. Everything I have found listed as cons by other readers were pros to me. I loved the plural first person narration, the slow burn, and the overly verbose descriptions. Please give this one a try.

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mothie_girlie's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

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camieh's review

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dark funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was very slow paced. Long extended paragraph of explanations happened frequently. It was funny and I finished it but it was just ok. Trigger warning- sexual relationships without explicit consent are included.

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annablume's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this but there are a couple of things i don't like: I wish the main characters got like... equal page time. With some of them I didn't get to spend enough time to really get to know them. I was a little disappointed by the ending

the time jump.. i wish i could have been there at the final game and I didn't really care for the all grown up versions of the team.

I did not enjoy the adult-minor-relationship and the commentary on that... left a sour taste in my mouth that i'm still sitting with, even more so when paired with that one little comment on sexual abuse ...
i really liked the story and the writing style so it still gets a (maybe spineless on my part idk) high rating

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