I...have no idea how to review this book. Its weird. Ill read book 2 but im still very kinda lost? Its like The Maze Runner meets....Irish folklore? I think i liked it? I think 3.5/5? I'm just so very confused and don't know why exactly.

Big shout out for the mc having a physical disability

3.5/5
I mean this is kind of a basic book but sometimes that isn't bad. We all drink pumpkin spice lattes while wearing uggs with our hair in a messy bun sometimes *shrugs*

3.5/5

So this wasnt exactly what I aas expecting but the concept of technology and medicine being so tightly interwoven is some Black Mirror shit that will now give me nightmares. The ending totally threw me for a loop. I always just assume the father giving warnings to his children against a corporation is ALWAYS a pure superhero without any flaws so the ending was a total PSYCH! The romance was also kinda adorable. Predictable but it wasn't built up to be this big ridiculous romance.

If Ashley Herring Blake could stop hitting me in the god damn feels with each book, thatd be great!

Ugh, so cute and sweet. I got so attached to Sunny. Her crush, figuring out what she feels for girls vs boys, survivivg a heart transplant, dealing with her mom coming back. Ugh *clenches heart* too many feels. Just take all the damn stars and stop hurting me!

Well...this is awkward. Everyone I know who has read this loves it...like LOVES it and I feel like I'm missing somsthing or...got the wrong book? I was bored the whe damn time! Its like another Cruel Prince situation where I have no idea ehat I'm missing while 99% of readers would have themselves buried with this book.

I just...meh about the whole cast (though props for the diversity), the magic, the world. I just...dont get what is so amazing about the book? It's not bad by any means. Just immensely slow and boring and I can read books like that if theres interesting politics and/or cast but I can't find any appeal! This is frustrating

Okay so I could definitely see why people took issue with this publication enough to ban it and fight in courts for years. For the time, all of this went against the grain and especially in a time of so much change in industries, politics and feminism around the world...I could see why the people in power panicked. It's quite sad to hear Constance's inner monologues about how sex was a requirement of marriage and the traditional sexism of the time. Hearing that and then her progressing to "I want this man because of how he makes me feel" is exactly what those in power were trying to stop.

Honestly, I was forced to read far more boring, dull and pointless books in high school, undergrad and grad school so for a classic...I didn't hate this!

Notes: the word "crisis" being used instead of "climax" kept making me snort laugh
-BBC really modernized the romance and Mellor especially but also made Clifford far more of a "well I kinda feel bad for him character"
-We really haven't changed much. Sure, we don't have the same distinct class structure but the abuse of Clifford's coal mining company and the slave-like wages justified... *motions to 2019 where Walmart/Amazon/assholes paying staff poverty wages and their staff need to live on government help while Walmart/Amazon/assholes pay like next to no tax*
-I had no idea Constance had a sister!

Ow! My heart! That ending and that f/f romance was so damn good and hit me in the damn feels.

I am 100% sure that I have 0 clue what is actually happening in the revolution rebellion. I just know there is one and that Matthieu is garbage. He is the only person I know how I feel about. Everyone else had me flip flopping chapter to chapter.

The concept/world structure itself is pretty sexist but it breaks down the women hating women plus the two main females aren't pushovers. They're quite developed, doing a lot of stuff behind their husbands back to undercut everything he does and is trying to do.

Also, betrayal for days! FOR DAYS I TELL YOU!

I know how weird this is going to sound but the plot, characters and world development were an absolute hotmess. The entire second half of the book is the girl hoping from scene to scene inbetween two boys and somehow she always accidentally makes out with them. The book also ends in a super weird place and tone...and yes, I'll read the seauel

Updates Review from Reread:
I'm actually really glad I reread this! Emma's definitely my favourite character of everyone and I love the views on race and the anti-bigotry message. I think the plague concept and magic system was a bit of a hotness with very little information offered voluntarily. I needed more non-essential information given steadily throughout to develop EVERYTHING more and make the twists FAR less obvious

Huh...I literally knew nothing of 99% (showing my Canadian ignorance) of this story and it was written with a narrative which made it come off almost fictional.