Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mousereads's Reviews (2.14k)
BLOG|INSTAGRAM|TWITTER|YOUTUBE
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I am no romance reader, and I've always made that very clear. But something about this premise and the cover drew me to this book - and I'm really grateful it did. The chemistry between Wes and Margaret and the slow burn from hatred to love was so fantastically written. But more than that, the conversations around bigotry and immigration, around discrimination and the things people let slide, was interesting and well done. The primary plot of the Hunt and their competing with a town that hates them was immensely interesting to me. This book is intriguing, entertaining, and lovely. It feels like getting a warm cup of soup on a rainy day, and the magic of sitting with loved ones in the evening near a fireplace. A bit of a fluffy explanation from me, but I can't come up with a better one.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I am no romance reader, and I've always made that very clear. But something about this premise and the cover drew me to this book - and I'm really grateful it did. The chemistry between Wes and Margaret and the slow burn from hatred to love was so fantastically written. But more than that, the conversations around bigotry and immigration, around discrimination and the things people let slide, was interesting and well done. The primary plot of the Hunt and their competing with a town that hates them was immensely interesting to me. This book is intriguing, entertaining, and lovely. It feels like getting a warm cup of soup on a rainy day, and the magic of sitting with loved ones in the evening near a fireplace. A bit of a fluffy explanation from me, but I can't come up with a better one.
BLOG|INSTAGRAM|TWITTER|YOUTUBE
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A few things to note before I get into this review: The trigger warnings are only presented as a comment from the author on goodreads. This was buried behind several others comments due to the way goodreads is formatted. Generally, I don't fuss too much about trigger warnings, but this book heavily needs one in the beginning of the book, and I hope the publisher and author consider adding it.
I DNF'd this book at 60%, despite telling myself I would try to get to 75% at the bare minimum before doing so. However, I found myself wanting to do literally anything else before picking this back up to continue reading, which was when I realized it was time to put it down. I do feel I read enough of the book to give an honest review, though.
This book heavily focuses on morbidity to hide that not much happens (again, at least for 60%). Could I tell you what the plot was, by means of the main character wants x and this is what's preventing it and this is the plan? Maybe, but only in the absolute vaguest of terms. I adore Ava Reid's prose, but in this instance, it tended to make what was happening simply confusing. The constant traumatizing events and overt sexualization of everything made me feel numb to everything that happened. I went from the kind of horrified that I expect with dark books, to emotionally detached and completely not caring. There was no balance, no reprieve from these moments. It wasn't helped by our narrator being not enjoyable and trying to make excuses for this due to her trauma, but coming up short over and over again.
Updating - this is now being marketed more clearly as horror, and I am grateful for that (and trust me, I love body horror. It's one of my favorites to consume). Regardless, this does not repair the other issues within the writing and lack of content warning for the reader. The rest of my review I maintain.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A few things to note before I get into this review: The trigger warnings are only presented as a comment from the author on goodreads. This was buried behind several others comments due to the way goodreads is formatted. Generally, I don't fuss too much about trigger warnings, but this book heavily needs one in the beginning of the book, and I hope the publisher and author consider adding it.
I DNF'd this book at 60%, despite telling myself I would try to get to 75% at the bare minimum before doing so. However, I found myself wanting to do literally anything else before picking this back up to continue reading, which was when I realized it was time to put it down. I do feel I read enough of the book to give an honest review, though.
This book heavily focuses on morbidity to hide that not much happens (again, at least for 60%). Could I tell you what the plot was, by means of the main character wants x and this is what's preventing it and this is the plan? Maybe, but only in the absolute vaguest of terms. I adore Ava Reid's prose, but in this instance, it tended to make what was happening simply confusing. The constant traumatizing events and overt sexualization of everything made me feel numb to everything that happened. I went from the kind of horrified that I expect with dark books, to emotionally detached and completely not caring. There was no balance, no reprieve from these moments. It wasn't helped by our narrator being not enjoyable and trying to make excuses for this due to her trauma, but coming up short over and over again.
Updating - this is now being marketed more clearly as horror, and I am grateful for that (and trust me, I love body horror. It's one of my favorites to consume). Regardless, this does not repair the other issues within the writing and lack of content warning for the reader. The rest of my review I maintain.
BLOG|INSTAGRAM|TWITTER|YOUTUBE
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
White did a fascinating job of creating an end of the world environment that was both haunting and realistic. The likelihood of a Christian terrorist group taking control of society due to some sort of pandemic situation doesn't seem too far-fetched- especially due to the current climate of things. The concept of a trans boy also being a monster boy, experiencing that dysmorphia on multiple levels was genuinely interesting. As I mentioned before, this world and the two opposing forces genuinely created a plot worth following. The ending did get a little muddled, especially as we follow Benji's narrative more often. As he turned into a monster, the internal dialogue was somewhat more difficult to follow.
Overall, this was a fascinating take on things and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It now lives in my head rent-free, not gonna lie!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
White did a fascinating job of creating an end of the world environment that was both haunting and realistic. The likelihood of a Christian terrorist group taking control of society due to some sort of pandemic situation doesn't seem too far-fetched- especially due to the current climate of things. The concept of a trans boy also being a monster boy, experiencing that dysmorphia on multiple levels was genuinely interesting. As I mentioned before, this world and the two opposing forces genuinely created a plot worth following. The ending did get a little muddled, especially as we follow Benji's narrative more often. As he turned into a monster, the internal dialogue was somewhat more difficult to follow.
Overall, this was a fascinating take on things and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It now lives in my head rent-free, not gonna lie!
