[review to come]

content warnings: SpoilerTK
rep: SpoilerTK
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CONVERSION: 12.5 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 7 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 7 / 10
Development / Flow: 10 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 5 / 5

Wow. It’s been a while since I read such a powerfully packed young adult novel. The themes are thoroughly explored — religion, faith, belief (all different things); trust, loyalty, friendship, love; coming of age, identity, personal agency; the justice system — as complex and ambiguous, at times both/neither good or evil. 

Despite Minnow’s understandable reluctance to open up, her refusal to explain or even face exactly what happened that night, I found her a sympathetic and reasonably relatable narrator. I admired her resilience in the face of what she’s been through, and her slow-but-steady character development was completely believable. 

The reveal didn’t play out at all as I had expected, yet it made perfect sense — great literary climaxes are a lost art, but this is a terrific example. In fact, the plot arc as a whole was well planed and executed, perfectly paced to keep the reader’s interest without infodumping or overwhelming.

I have never had a dog, and I have always wanted one. Based on the love, joy, heartbreak, coziness, tenderness, and excitement Mary Oliver portrays in this collection, I'm not letting go of that dream anytime soon.

Straightforward but meaningful prose; the dual POV was well-done. Thought-provoking: the kind of story that stays with you afterwards.

Not to be dramatic, but this might be the book that makes me seriously reconsider getting into romance-genre novels. I love second-chance/exes getting back together after some time and individual growth, and I really liked both Amanda and Jake. They actually make each other better, stronger, more resilient.

content warnings: 

sexual harassment, groping, violence

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CONVERSION: 12.8 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5

It was pushing the boundaries of quirky and I wish the stories were connected by more than Leila's presence, but it was functional. Whimsical and thoughtful; I liked it a lot.

[2019 reread]

Gave this another try in Kindle for PC (rather than Kindle), and it went so much better. I remembered the main cast and what I considered the biggest twist [see original review, below], but there was still so much suspense and tension that I really didn't want to put the book down.

Initially it took me a while to really get into the flow / orient myself within the story, but overall it's an extraordinarily compelling narrative with memorable characters, heart-pounding stakes, fascinating ethical dilemmas, and of course unique visuals. The last half (or maybe third) really cinched it for me, honestly, and now I'm really excited to see how the rest of the series plays out.

The transcripts delighted me; I love Kady's and Ezra's banter/flirting and irreverent sarcasm towards authority (and of course each other). They almost perfectly embody what I love about witty, rebellious teenage protagonists, and holy ⬛ did they put my emotions through the wringer.

content warnings: Spoilerableist language (c-word + others), blood and gore, mass murder/death, mercy kills, on-page suicides, major character death(s), mentions of past child abuse
rep: Spoiler(very) minor MLM & M/M
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CONVERSION: 13.1 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 10 / 10

Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 5 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 5 / 5

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[original review - 2018]

3.5 stars? Idk.

The visual concept is definitely cool, but a huge pain to read on Kindle — it wouldn’t let me zoom in in OR increase the size of the text, so I had to squint. That said, I particularly loved the setup of the action/battle scenes (I tend to get bored when they’re too wordy, and this managed to convey more information: thousand words per picture and all that) and of the quick check-ins (“time to Lincoln interception,” etc). It’s also worth noting that while I love space operas in general I’m not a huge fan of Spoilerpandemic/AI takeover stories. Some plot twists I didn’t see coming, but only one Spoiler(AIDAN pretending to be Ezra) was really interesting.

I did feel like it was a bit hard to connect with the characters — except for SpoilerAIDAN, ironically; we got plenty of its eerily humanistic monologuing — due to the storytelling medium; it felt more like cheering them on from a distance than being there with them, which works but isn’t my favorite position as a reader. 

I don’t know that I want to struggle through reading the rest of the series on my Kindle; if I have a minute I’ll try pulling it up on my computer and if that fails I might check out my local library. But it’s not a huge priority; I’m not super invested in this story.

I felt like it was too short — I read the whole thing in about half a sitting and was left wanting more — while at the same time certain points were repeated to excess. (A note to writers at large: just like saying “no offense” is utterly ineffective, writing “as has been previously mentioned” doesn’t negate the monotony of constant repetition.) And a few points in particular, e.g.seeing the pictures in Chinese characters as a non-fluent reader, weren’t quite followed through to conclusions even though they raised new contradictions and concerns. 

But overall, I’m totally (book-)nerding out about how meta the whole thing is: a book about the reading experience that is, in itself, a Reading Experience: The varied sentence structure, conceptual/abstract images, closely-read literary examples all contributed to a unique narrative.

Very intensely inventive, with vivid settings and characters, purposeful subplots. Lots of intrigue and enthralling drama; an intense and very cool read.