chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)

4.25 stars
Rep: plus-sized FMC and an autistic MMC

This was a fun, fast-paced fantasy with wonderful representation and a truly unique premise. 
Gia has spent 1000 years locked in stone when autistic temple ward Milo accidentally frees her with his prayer. Gia is hungry for revenge, and Milo is faced with the realization that everything he has ever believed may just be a hoax—it turns out the miracle Milo’s spent his life venerating is actually a curse that Gia will stop at nothing to break.
I flew through this story. I read it in less than 2 days and I never wanted to put it down. I loved what world building there was. It was so interesting and unlike anything I’ve read. I did have questions about the politics of the world at large, outside of their small country, as well as more information about the beasts and monsters, but for the most part I was immersed in the world. The pacing was a little fast in a couple of sections, but for 90% of the book it was the perfect pace for me.
The only place where I was left a little wanting was in the character department. I just found myself wanting…more. More development, more emotional depth. I really liked the characters, but I was never able to fully connect with them. I felt especially disconnected from their emotions. There was so much potential for emotional turmoil, in Milo questioning everything he believed, in Gia being thrown into a world 1000 years separated from everything she’s ever known, and of course in the romance, but I felt like the book never delved past the surface level of exploring the emotional implications of these aspects. 
That said, this was over all a really enjoyable read and a strong debut. I loved seeing an autistic character—and even explicitly, the word autism—in a second world fantasy. I loved the way Milo’s autism was portrayed and the way that he was written. It was clearly #ownvoices representation. Leanne Schwartz is an author to watch. I cannot wait to get my hands on anything else she writes in the future.

CW (provided by author): violence, blood, minor gore, abuse of power by a religious authority figure, one interrupted instance of sexual pressure by an authority figure against another adult, minor ableist bullying, pressuring of an autistic to mask, some internalized ableism, brief mentions of fatphobia

3.75 stars
This book has a pretty low average rating on GoodReads—especially for a book that’s not even out yet. The entire time I was reading it I was stressed, because I was like… <i>I’m enjoying this? This is good? Why is the rating so low is something really awful going to happen and ruin it</i> The good news is, at least by my opinion, that didn’t happen. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. 
Was the main character kind of annoyingly stupid in her stubbornness at times? Yes. She just refused to believe the objective truth in front of her and then kept making decisions that you as a reader knew were stupid, and her friends knew were stupid. It did get a little annoying to read, but she was also acknowledging in her internal monologue that she was making stupid decisions but she just needed her beliefs/hope to be true. I think that acknowledgment was what kept my mild annoyance from dipping into an unenjoyable level of annoyance. However, aside from that annoyance, I did really enjoy the characters and Clara as a narrator. She was interesting, voicey, and easy to root for (except for in very specific decisions). Henni did really annoy me at times, but at other times she was completely lovable. Axel was my favorite of the group. He was sweet and swoony and I fell for him right alongside Clara.
The world building, however, was pretty underdeveloped. You were kind of just meant to not question anything. There’s an explanation of why they must go into the forest and why it is evil, but when it came to all the fairytale aspects it was kind of just “the fairytale aspects are a part of it because they are. Don’t question it.” There’s no reason, no explanation, no way to tie fairytales into the existing worldbuilding. You simply have to not question it at all, or else you’ll be pulled out of the story. I felt similarly to the references of good/bad luck superstitions. The characters are obsessed with symbols of luck, and there’s no real explanation for that either, and I felt like their needed to be, especially because it was so constant. Thankfully I was able to just, not think about the plot and developmental holes and enjoy it anyway. It was an interesting world as long as you don’t ask questions.
I think this book would have done better in a middle grade market. The specific ways that fairytales were incorporated felt a bit more in vein of MG than YA to me, and I think the less-developed worldbuilding would work better for MG than YA as well. The romance would have needed to be toned down a little (less descriptions of making out), but everything else felt more suited to a younger audience and MG standards. The characters were supposed to be upper teens, but they (and especially Clara) acted much younger. 
On a craft level, the one aspect that I have no complaints on is the pacing. This was fast paced without ever getting too much so. It balanced action and reaction, progress of plot and character and emotion very well. I was never bored, and I never felt like I had whiplash, either. It kept me fully engaged from the first page to the last, and I ended up finishing the book in a day.
Last but not least, the absolute BEST part of this book was the disability rep! When I started this book, I had absolutely no idea there was going to be disability representation. Then, a few pages in, we learn that Clara has scoliosis. Because this is a fantasy book, the condition is described instead of named, but Clara says she has an S-curve in her spine that causes her hips to not be level with each other. The portrayal of this is exactly what I want more of in fantasy. It’s what I consider “casual disability rep”. It isn’t a plot point, it isn’t a huge ordeal that the characters are constantly being dramatic about, Clara simply is disabled. It’s a part of her character and it regularly affects her, but it’s not this huge thing, it’s just how she is. I wish we could have had a little bit more in depth discussions of the bigger picture of what it’s like to live with chronic pain, since it was mostly passing mentions of a twinge of pain here, a stumble there, but I still really enjoyed what was there. I also really, really loved the inclusion of an accessibility/mobility aid. Clara uses a lift in her shoe to make her feet even on the ground and help lessen her pain. These types of aids are often completely overlooked in fantasy, and when they are there, it’s often of the magical variety. And while I enjoy fantasy versions of accessibility devices, there’s something refreshing about seeing a simple, real world accessibility device in a fantasy setting.

I did enjoy this book, and I definitely recommend it. But if I’m being entirely honest, I’m not certain I’ll end up picking up the sequel next year. This one wrapped up pretty nicely. Despite the fact that the ending made it clear that there will be a sequel, I’m not itching to know how the last loose threads tied up. I think it was maybe wrapped up  a little too nicely for the first book in a series. Who knows, maybe when it releases I’ll be more intrigued but right now I feel satisfied. 

I… don’t know how to review this book.
To start, the ARC I received was missing about 10-20% of the pages. Half of the stories were incomplete. Or at least, I think that’s the case? Every handful of pages, there would be 2-3 blank pages. Maybe that was purposeful and was separating complete stories? The stories didn’t seem complete, so I’m not sure.
I read what was… confusing and seemed to have no through-thread, nothing tying it together. 
This was a connection of short anecdotes of Penelope Bagieu’s life told in graphic novel format. I’ve enjoyed many a graphic novel memoir, but the whole time I was reading this I just kept thinking… what is the point? There was nothing special about any of these stories. They were pedestrian, typical, and had no real overarching story to tell. 
My last complaint is the fact that this is YA. Why is this YA? In the majority of these stories Penelope is in her early—if not mid—20s. There are a couple stories of teenagerhood, a couple stories of young childhood, but it is overwhelmingly the stories of an adult woman. The stories themselves aren’t relatable to a general teenage audience, they deal with topics and themes and experiences that are still many years in the future for a 13, 15, even 17 year old. There were also illustrations of people having sex. Multiple of them, and said people were not obscured by blankets or anything. Cartoon or not, that was not something I expected in a novel supposedly for minors. The book is a translated work that was originally French, so that’s probably why, but it was still odd to me, especially because for every reason this book just makes no sense in the YA market.

In order to enjoy this book, you have to be able to suspend your disbelief.
Elijah and Jessica have the same Korean name—Lee Yoo-Jin—and when they start their summer internships, they find that their identities were swapped. Everyone thinks Jessica is the child of a VIP in the company, and Elijah is a regular intern.
The way that this happens makes absolutely no sense, and if you’re likely to get caught up in these plotholes—and in the first 30% of the book, they’re constant—you probably won’t enjoy this book. BUT if you’re able to ignore them, suspend your disbelief and turn your brain off, you’ll have a good time.
This book is fast-paced, dramatic, and easy to get swept up in. Elijah and Jessica’s romance is sweet, and though it is a little surface level, they’re both easy to root for. I appreciated the discussions of misogyny and classism in this type environment of high priority tech companies and business spheres.
I enjoyed both Elijah and Jessica as narrators and the general voicey-ness of the writing. I had a lot of fun with it, even though some of the slang that was used was a few years out of date.
All in all, this was a fun, easy, fast paced read that will be perfect for fans of K-Dramas.