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alexalily's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, Cancer, Grief, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Classism, and Cultural appropriation
penofpossibilities's review
dark
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
buckle up, there is alot to unpack here.
Let's start with the pros: Russells writing blew me away. Sometimes I had to just stop reading to take in the absolute perfect sentence I just came across. Ava as a character was incredibly well nuanced and believable as a 13 year old. I loved being in her head, reading about her experiences so much, but let me get back on that in a bit.
The cons: I fiercely disliked Kiwi. His chapters were almost a chore to get through and his inner conflict just annoyed me because he would be judging other people around him constantly while being an asshole himself. He was incredibly sexist and disgusting and inappropriate, and the fact that it seemed to be Russells intention that the reader sympathized with him- well I couldn't. I understand why his storyline was there, the contrast between his coming of age on the mainland and the things Ava was going through meanwhile, would have hooked me if only Kiwi was a more likable character to read about.
Another thing that really, really bothered me was the cultural appropriation.i am referring to (mainly) the dad pretending their family was an indigenous tribe when they were, in fact, not it could have been that the author was trying to comment on this and show that it's not okay, but the fact that Russell is a white woman writing these things made me super uncomfortable.
There was another scene which really rubbed me the wrong way,when Kiwi goes to night class and gets "bullied" for being white??? And he's basically complaining about being discriminated for being white like whaat??? Tell me if I misread that but uhhh excuse me? and I almost decided to dnf the book there and then.
A many scene was spent by Kiwi and his friends sexualizing girls and women, commenting on their appearances and treating them inappropriately, but you know, it's fine because they are sl*tty b*tches anyway! /sarcasm
I am very disappointed in Russell for writing this sort of harmful stereotyping of women :/
The final few chapters of this book contained a few clichés that I'd rather could have been avoided, but the ending really tied everything together pretty well. Ultimately this was a story exploring the human psyche living in a remote space almost cut off from the world, dealing with grief and loss and lack of good parental figures, coming of age and all that stuff. On that front it delivered exceptionally well, in my opinion. Ava was a well developed character and and unreliable narrator, which made some parts really spooky and chilling or shocking. Russell is able to take the reader on a journey through Avas eyes in such a way that you almost start to believe the same things Ava thinks. The exploration of what happens to Avas mind after her traumatic experiences is well done. Every sentence punched me in the gut. I feel as though the author knew about this topic very well. I think even more page time could have been spent on this, though. The ending was realistic, but left me in a dark mood and again having lost all faith in humanity and this cruel world.
What mystified me is that this book has been praised on the cover and in reviews as funny and adventurous. Both elements do present itself in the story, but are far from the main focus! This gave me the wrong idea of what I'd be getting myself into. This book is dark and gruesome and extremely graphic! Please check the trigger warnings before going into it. And don't expect a funny, quirky book; it's really not.
Let's start with the pros: Russells writing blew me away. Sometimes I had to just stop reading to take in the absolute perfect sentence I just came across. Ava as a character was incredibly well nuanced and believable as a 13 year old. I loved being in her head, reading about her experiences so much, but let me get back on that in a bit.
The cons: I fiercely disliked Kiwi. His chapters were almost a chore to get through and his inner conflict just annoyed me because he would be judging other people around him constantly while being an asshole himself. He was incredibly sexist and disgusting and inappropriate, and the fact that it seemed to be Russells intention that the reader sympathized with him- well I couldn't. I understand why his storyline was there, the contrast between his coming of age on the mainland and the things Ava was going through meanwhile, would have hooked me if only Kiwi was a more likable character to read about.
Another thing that really, really bothered me was the cultural appropriation.
There was another scene which really rubbed me the wrong way,
A many scene was spent by Kiwi and his friends sexualizing girls and women, commenting on their appearances and treating them inappropriately, but you know, it's fine because they are sl*tty b*tches anyway! /sarcasm
I am very disappointed in Russell for writing this sort of harmful stereotyping of women :/
The final few chapters of this book contained a few clichés that I'd rather could have been avoided, but the ending really tied everything together pretty well. Ultimately this was a story exploring the human psyche living in a remote space almost cut off from the world, dealing with grief and loss and lack of good parental figures, coming of age and all that stuff. On that front it delivered exceptionally well, in my opinion. Ava was a well developed character and and unreliable narrator, which made some parts really spooky and chilling or shocking. Russell is able to take the reader on a journey through Avas eyes in such a way that you almost start to believe the same things Ava thinks. The exploration of what happens to Avas mind after her traumatic experiences is well done. Every sentence punched me in the gut. I feel as though the author knew about this topic very well. I think even more page time could have been spent on this, though. The ending was realistic, but left me in a dark mood and again having lost all faith in humanity and this cruel world.
What mystified me is that this book has been praised on the cover and in reviews as funny and adventurous. Both elements do present itself in the story, but are far from the main focus! This gave me the wrong idea of what I'd be getting myself into. This book is dark and gruesome and extremely graphic! Please check the trigger warnings before going into it. And don't expect a funny, quirky book; it's really not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Medical content and Vomit
Parent death, attempted su*cide, cultural appropriation, explosion
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