angel_ontheother's Reviews (393)

I found the plot to be underwhelming and I wasn't a big fan of the art style either.

I thought I'd really like this considering I loved Animal Farm (same author), and Fahrenheit 451 (similar plot). I can see how this book is objectively good and relevant, but the writing style and plot devices were not my taste, so I found it hard to get invested into the story. Most of the time, I had that "I'm staring at words on paper" feeling rather than feeling like I was watching a movie in my mind. I think the main thing that made it difficult for me to get into, was the fact that the characters are (intentionally) one-dimensional, and not very likeable or relatable. I tend to prefer books that are on the character driven side. This book is pretty much all plot.

RTC

Reading this felt weird but in a good way. I'm half Indonesian and as a kid, I pretty much never saw myself or the Indonesian side of my family represented in media. I think this might actually be the first book I've read by Indonesian authors/with explicit Indonesian rep? The characters use many Indonesian words and phrases!! I'll admit, I can hardly understand Indonesian, let alone speak it; but I grew up hearing people speak the language and it gives me a nostalgic feeling seeing it here.

Aside from featuring Indonesian characters and culture, this book has a trans main character and various queer characters. Overall, it's a queer coming of age story. I have trans relatives, and that intersectional representation just feels great to see. The plot is a bit simplistic for my taste, but I feel like the good outweighs the bad. I would definitely recommend this! 

Not my taste.

Despite being very short, it took me a while to get into and overall a long time to finish. It's not bad at all but the way people talked about it made my expectations too high. I think it's also because I've read similar books before so it didn't feel groundbreaking the way it might have for some? Whatever it is that people love about it, I didn't have the same experience. 

This was engaging and at times pretty funny, but I found it to be anticlimactic. I can see how many would enjoy it much more than I did though. Since I couldn't relate to it, I wasn't as emotionally connected. I've never had a ride or die best friend like that 🫣

As good as it was the first time I read it! This book is simply amazing and I recommend it highly. There's a lot of dark content in it, but the great writing and plot makes it worth it the read.