cameronreads's reviews
519 reviews

This was a lot of fun, excellent queer witchy vibes. I almost felt like I was reading a dark academia, which is always a good thing. I did feel a little detached from everything though, almost like we needed a bit more time to get to know the characters and to absorb each plot point before moving onto the next, as there was quite a lot that went on in a short space of time, not all of it feeling resolved. I also guessed the big twist very early.

This was simply a very realistic and raw portrayal of what it’s like to be a gender fluid teenager. My heart aches for Riley as they went through awful experiences but also found themself and friends who they deserved. I felt this one. 

Huge trigger warnings for transphobia, homophobia, and suicidal thoughts.

I really really enjoyed this! I thought it was a super fun YA fantasy, one of my new go to recs for the genre. The characters were all realistic and unique, each with very different but believable motives and morals. The plot was compelling with lots of fun puzzles and cyphers. The Indian inspired world building was rich and well done, and has a really interesting and unique magic system. The pacing was also done really well, if anything I could have done a little more time to sit and fully get attached to each of the main characters and would have loved to see them growing to care for each other again a little slower and at different paces.  

This one had a lot of potential, with a really interesting world and characters, I just wanted a little bit more time to sit with everything. The plot moved from stage to stage very quickly, and the romance was quite all of a sudden. It resulted in a lack of a connection that was so close to being there. I do really like all the casual lgbt rep (including they/them using mc and side polyam parents) and the discussions around colonialism and being mixed race (although they could have been developed a little more). Basically this was very close to being really good.

This was a pretty alright dark academia. Didn’t exactly deviate from the formate in any way, besides perhaps the dual timeline. Not necessarily a good or bad thing. Characters you love to hate. Semi-predictable but not utterly predictable mystery. Just about the right length and well structured. Alright.

I’m so sorry but I couldn’t get past the writing style. It’s so clearly a millennial trying to sound like a Gen Z and ending up picking the cringiest bits of both. It made the dialogue feel so unrealistic and I just could not get behind the characters. There’s also the ‘I love my best friend who has given me no reason to think telling him would ruin our friendship so I’m going to spend the whole book gearing up to telling him oh woe is me’ which I find annoying. I think some of the characters, conversations and plot lines had a lot of promise though, but just were let down by the above.

I struggle to give novellas a star rating but this was a really fun one! I think the concept is really interesting, I love the pirates, and I loved the main character. The end also left us off on what I think will be a great start to a series!

I think the main premise of this book was really interesting and I loved the deep sea setting. I think there was potential for some really complex discussions around personality disorders that was missed though, with the main character Lily having ‘emotional problems’ and often lashing out uncontrollably to the point we’re it’s significantly effecting her and everyone around her, but then brushed under the rug as soon as the situation becomes dire. Speaking of a dire situation, I think the stakes could have been emphasised just a little more, as I always got the impression the characters would get out of their dilemmas, so wasn’t that on the edge of my seat. Also, Harry Potter reference in a book coming out in 2023? Bad look. 
Essentially this has a lot of promise and if you’re a fan of YA looking to get into more deep sea stuff I’d recommend (just why why why is there an hp reference I don’t understand)

I can’t quite tell whether my slight disappointment over this book was due to me having to keep putting it down or because it was genuinely disappointing. It felt like not a lot happened, with a lot of waiting for the characters to decide to do something, and felt quite disjointed. There were so many characters doing different things I didn’t feel connected to any of them (except Elu, I LOVED him). I think the descriptions of Yasira’s debilitating mental health was really interesting, until it seemed to be cured with a sudden realisation that she was needed, and the only way her health effected her any more was by making her feel two dimensional. It’s very rare to see descriptions of plurality in books, and whilst I appreciated the acknowledgment that this was a magical plurality and probably wouldn’t be accepted in the rest of the community, I almost wish it just hadn’t been magical and a new character with DID or OSDD had been introduced, or that the trauma had caused Yasira’s alters to finally reveal themselves. I wanted more individuality from the seven, I literally couldn’t distinguish them besides Luellae. Still I can’t tell whether this was my fault because I kept picking it up and putting it down, so three stars.

I’m going to briefly touch on one issue I had with this book before I get into this: repeatedly, non-binary characters are misgendered in here, not by any other characters as part of the plot, but mistakenly by the author in the prose. I hope this will be remedied when more copies are printed in the future.

I really liked the concept of this book. It really lived up to the ‘queer Lantix Hunger Games x Percy Jackson’, and I’m obsessed with that. The plot was very fun but also high stakes, the magic and world building was done very well, and I loved the concept of all the dioses and semidioses. I also loved the ending and the twist - I think it was the perfect ending to this story and am so excited for the sequel.
Teo was a great main character, and I loved watching his development. He wasn’t perfect, but very likeable and cheeky, and I was rooting for him the whole time. The other characters were great as well; there are lots of characters in here but I think Aiden managed to flesh them all out really well. I loved the friendships and glimpses of relationships that we get to see; the friendship between Teo and Niya, whatever is blossoming between Teo and Aurelio, even the glimpses of something between Dezi and Marino and the sibling relationship between Aurelio and Auristela. Speaking of Auristela, I loved how even the characters that Teo didn’t like had redeeming qualities and how I ended up rooting for them too. 
And the rep! Excluding the issues with misgendering, the trans rep was wonderful. I LOVED how casual being trans was, and even celebrated in this world. The conversations around different types of dysphoria, the complexity of gender, Teo binding his wings — it was done so well. I also loved all the other rep; with most of the characters being unapologetically queer, and Dezi being deaf with most of the characters automatically signing around him. The little cultural references too were also great to see, things like specific foods and traditions. 
Sometimes things got a little cringey (TicTac…) and some of the humour was, um, dated..? (What else do you call the line ‘two bros chilling in a *sauna* five feet apart cause…’) HOWEVER this was rare, and a lot of it had me laughing out loud. 
I did really really like this overall. I just wish that there had been a little more time dedicated to editing to make sure there was no misgendering.