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lila_laune's review
- 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
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
amalas_bookstop's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
Minor: Death of parent
emmieanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
emilywemily6's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: War
justnicole's review
4.75
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, War, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse
lauracatereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Effy Effy Effy Effy — is there ever a more tortured character who has never been dealt a lucky draw of cards in her life? I will admit for the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book I truly was grasping for straws trying to figure out how things were ever going to brighten up for her. By the halfway, I was convinced that Ava Reid was going to Addie LaRue her and force her to end up with the Fairy King. Although it would be a bit optimistic to say that her ending is an incandescently happy one (she most certainly has an arduous journey ahead of her), her outcome was far better than I initially expected. I was very pleased with the ending, truthfully.
My bad boy academic Preston Héloury was nothing short of the perfect MMC for this book in that he was an excellent companion to Effy’s FMC but never, ever overshadowed her. Nor did he dim her light or distract from her story. In fact, he was a necessary building block of her story by (in part) marking the transformation from terrorized, drowned Effy to her reborn, swimming Euphemia. Preston was the perfect companion. While I could see what he brought for Effy, I did find it a bit difficult to see what she brought growth-wise to his character. They do have a lot of pride & prejudice vibes with Preston in the Elizabethan pride and Effy getting off on the wrong food with Preston in Darcian fashion. She did do a good job of calling him out on his erudite pride.
The Gothic setting of this book??! Creeptastic & well executed. There was not an overt amount of detail spent on the world building here, but rather just enough to get the points across. I did sometimes wonder what this world would look like on a map, but the locations were simply not important enough that I thought it required one. Overall, I loved the concept of the Bottom Hundred and its stark contrast to the north. Hiraeth was serving if Davy Jones had a house instead of the Black Pearl. The Fairy King, although not the only villain here (there are so many!), was fantastically designed.
Overall, my only gripe and the reason this book gets a 4.5 from me instead of a 5.0 was the hasty wrapping up of the plot. There was soooo much build up for the first 3/4 of the novel that by the time the storm hits, you’re expecting a huge drawn out ending. But as soon as the Fairy King is out of the picture, it felt like a race to wrap up this book and move on. Angharad’s story was absolutely vital to the entire structure of the novel, but her telling her story was more or less confined to about one chapter of the book. I definitely think her character could’ve been fleshed out and the reveal of her story and role in it be played out a bit more fluently. I would’ve loved to have seen more Effy & Angharad interaction, and most certainly some Preston & Angharad interaction as Preston struggles with this newfound knowledge (can we call it belief?) that the supernatural is real.
Anyways, I took an incredible amount of words more than usual to say that this was great.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual harassment
mktraxel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Rape, Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
sophiarichter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
daydaybookbay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Ava Reid writes beautiful phrases and sprinkles them throughout the chapters. Her artistic metaphors rest on the boundry of remaining applicable. The wording captures the reader, but any further, the intention would be lost. She uses imagery to convey emotion and the characters' mindsets.
The characters fell a bit flat for me. Each character was one dimensional and served only one purpose throughout the book. Preston exists to be an on-paper protective love interest. Effy is constantly reminding you how misogyny, sexism, and her beauty overshadow her genius. Every other character means nothing to me.
Effy's low-key racist. Her xenophobia is front and center, but we are
overlooking that? Why?! Time and time again, she shows her
academic rivalry" is really just her prejudice against Argantians.
I wanted more from the fairy-tale.
Is Effy a reliable narrator? Honestly, I'm left thinking the fantasy aspect is really part of Effy's imagination. She experienced great trauma from her mother, and her obsession with Myrddin's novel plays a role in her coping. I'm left to feel she really has mental health issues, and maybe the pink pills are good for her.
I wish there had been more development in the setting and the characters. The countries, the North and South, the school, the house, the land... I could never picture them. The only thing I was able to imagine was the door to the basement. There is this whole world Reid introduced in this book, but we never get a clear picture of what it's like.
I really wanted to love this book. Part of me feels I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book because I would get bored listening to it. I never got the feeling of being immersed in the story.
I love the moody vibes Reid is able to create. The feel and the way she conveys emotion is beautiful. I wish the attention to the setting had matched. I want to visualize where the characters are and how the North/South/Bottom Hundred look and compare to each other. I wanted to pull more from the text.
Moderate: Drug use, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Mental illness, Addiction, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, Child death, and War
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Stalking