*hands Theodore a button*

Realistically 4.75 because of

I didn't really care for the psychopomps subplot. Not because it was bad but because it felt like a separate story in itself? Like I could read a whole book about them but having them involved felt jolting. I was too focused on the other characters but ah well!

BUT I loved this book so much and had such a good time that I don't care!

I love this premise, this is such a good second addition to the series. Vampires in the Paris catacombs? Yes please! QUEER vampires? YES PLEASE. Also you know she's doing something right if I got a little emotional about the straight romance in the book because normally I couldn't care less but I loved

Greta and Varney's relationship. It was so pure I want them to be my parents.

. And once again Ruthven is my wonderful little malewife who I desire in every conceivable way! Can't wait for the next!!!

Oh my brain hurts bro

What more can I say that hasn't already been said? James Baldwin hurts me deeply and I say thank you

This is a tough one to rate for me I think. I am not someone who needs immediate answers to everything, especially not in horror like this. I completely understand why those who do would hate this though, as it remains dedicated to it's surreal ambiguity.

I think for this cosmic/environmental style horror, it works perfectly. This is a story about nature moving on beyond us, so as the narrator's worldview begins to shift with her 'change', it makes sense that the reasoning and descriptions are almost incomprehensible. I almost feel like I'm listening to a fungus if it could speak at times, which quite obviously would fill anyone with insane dread.

And I think that's what I love most about the book. It manages to fill me with that same existential dread that climate anxiety does, and in a way it's comforting to read someone else's conception of it.

I'd also like to say that I watched the movie first, and I love it as well, though I think of them as two different entities in the same genre rather than an adaptation of another. The movie's addition of more creature horror is badass of course!! But I do feel well fed by the book's more psychological and existential aspects the movie strayed away from.

Anyways, I'm really back and forth about whether to read the next two despite owning the series. I'm afraid it'll explain too much and ruin the horrifying mystique of it all, but I'm also a curious little bird. Definitely not a ghost bird though.

I...wanted to like this. I really did. Especially as a trans guy. And it's not a bad book! I actually think it's a fantastic read for teens, especially ones struggling through similar things. The concept is really cool and inventive, I love the world building of the brujx. The writing is solid. Now I'll talk about what irked me.

Since I'm also trans myself, I can be a bit picky about certain tropes I see emerging when writing these characters, even from other trans writers. This book is in no way the worst offender of this, but I do find it sometimes uses the character(s) as a talking piece for these issues rather than just *showing* you that they're going through these issues. I hate feeling like I'm being talked down to. I'm giving it a bit of a pass since it is written for a younger audience than myself, but I also have faith in the teens to get the point without it being spelled out for them. 

That is overall the main issue I think I had is the writing feels very young in general. A lot of telling or leading me toward how to feel rather than letting me decide for myself. It's a very formulaic story, which I don't always hate, but I think combined with everything above left me uninvested.

TLDR: This book just wasn't for me, but it's in no way bad. Maybe YA isn't for me anymore? Or maybe I just want trans characters whose identity isn't used as the focal moral lesson for others. I just want a guy running around doing magic and character developing and all that and just is also trans. You feel me? no? No worries bestie I'm glad you enjoyed it's a cute book at the end of the day alright ttyl besties <3

I haven't read this since high school and this time I read the uncensored version, a combo which allowed me to connect with this even more. There is so much packed in here. I don't like writing in my books but I might annotate this so I can connect more pieces. Obviously much more overtly queer in this one.

Also does this technically count as women in the refrigerator since

Sybil Vane's suicide Spurs Dorian into debaucherous apathy? Regardless she really did the "killing myself in front of you to forever change the trajectory of your life"