shaun_trinh's reviews
94 reviews

What an amazingly authentic book. Bobby's journey accepting his sexuality and slowly coming to terms with is the core of this story and is it's strongest point. I felt like I was reading a real story about a closeted football player, because when you think of a gay guy, sports isn't something that comes to mind first. Let alone football. But when you do think of it, name an openly gay NFL Football player. There hasn't been until recently which speaks to the volume of what Bobby was going through. People like him are targeted, given less opportunities, and looked at differently then everyone else.

At the start of the book I was pleasantly surprised that Bobby was already beginning to come out to people in his inner circle. Instead of starting his story where he completely rejects the notion of him being gay, we see him already going a little along his journey.

Throughout the book I felt suffocated with Bobby about all of the hurdles he had to face: the fear of coming out and then being forced out, people not accepting him, the stress of feeling that his world was collapsing, all of it. A scene that stood out to me was when the team voted on whether or not to support Bobby after he was outed. While terrible, it was also completely realistic. It's similar to how in some debate classes you'll have to water or even participate in a debate regarding if gay people should have equal rights. It's degrading and makes you feel like shit. Having to just stand by and take the fat that it's a discussion to begin with.

Another thing I loved about this book is that it wasn't romance driven. Yeah Bryan was a good guy and helped Bobby come into his own, but he wasn't the driving force behind it. Bobby got to where he is because of his entire support system which wasn't just Bryan, but also his friends and family. While people in that system wavered, they still came ack stronger then ever to support Bobby.

Continuing on about Bryan though, I do also appreciate that Konigsberg didn't try to make their relationship any more then it needed to be. It was a good relationship, but it doesn't have to be the only relationship. In the bonus chapters Konigsberg point's out that Bryan was a good boyfriend and helped Bobby, but that at least right now he's not the one and only Bobby can be in a happy relationship with. Not every relationship that starts in high school needs to turn into a married pair of high school sweet hearts. It's refreshing and understandable to see that the now openly gay guy would want to experiment past his very first relationship.

Bobby's article was great, before reading it I thought it was be all about getting back at Fitz for outing him, but it was only a small part. It was nice to see him taking this moment that should have been his to share from the beginning, back. He got to tell his story on his terms this time, and didn't let what Fitz did highjack that.

This story was such an emotional and stressful roller coaster and what helped alleviate that was Bobby's loved ones. Now don't get me wrong, most of them at some point or another did something very questionable to Bobby, but all of them came around quickly to support him. It never felt like the author was trying to hard to make us like anyone in the supporting cast, all of them had clear and distinct personality who all played a part in supporting Bobby throughout the entire book. My personal favorites were probably Austin, Carrie, and the Coach. All of their relationships with Bobby were great and I could easily tell without a single doubt, that all of them cared deeply about him. A moment I especially loved was when Bobby's closest friends on the football team serenaded him with Village People. Austin telling him that they just wanted to make him feel comfortable being on the team made me so incredibly happy after everything Bobby had went through beforehand when he was outted.

Lastly, I liked the subtle thematic tones throughout the story. The one that got my attention the most was how everything Bobby was doing and thinking about was for other people. From his perspective, his story didn't feel like it was about what he wanted, despite it being his sexuality and his story. It felt like so many other characters made Bobby's journey about themselves and what they thought and wanted. Fitz and other reporters wanted Bobby's story for their own personal gain, some of the homophobic football players weren't happy with Bobby for the timing of when he was outed, and that they felt lied too for him not being out sooner, etc.... which is a real issue. A lot of coming out stories aren't actually about what the individual who came out wanted, it's made about those around them who have an unwarranted opinion or axe to grind. Some readers might see this as a flaw in the authors storytelling, but I think it was not only intentional but a great choice. Because how people reacted and behaved around and towards Bobby is a real way that real people treat gay individuals, and by the end of the story, it feels like it's no longer like that. It feels like Bobby finally took back control over his own life to prioritize what he wants and what makes him happy.

Again, this is an incredible story and there's so much more that can be said. I had an amazing time reading Bobby's story.

This book is kind of the embodiment of a train wreck that you can sometimes look away from. The main character Molly isn't that likeable for multiple reasons. The most prominent one being that she constantly makes stupid choices, that she shouldn't be. She lost everything because she slept with her boyfriends brother, and what does she do when she comes back to town? The same exact thing but with the other brother, after regaining the trust of her old best friend. What am I supposed to like about Molly besides the fact that I think it was terrible of her mother to turn her life's mistake and drama into a book. So by extension of me not liking Molly or understanding her choices my enjoyment of the book varied down a lot throughout the story. If you like drama(which I do) it's nice, but at a point what else does the book have to offer?

The books overarching or maybe just it's last message that it wants the reader to remember is that there's a blatant double standard between how Molly is treated for what she did, and how the brothers are. Molly is slut shamed and degraded while the brothers are mostly unscathed. But what did the author actually do to show the readers that this is the message that she wanted us to have throughout the book? Nothing! I think the book would have had more substance if the story actually worked into Molly's resentment of the sexist double standard. That she had inner monologues to herself whenever she was ragged on by the town. But there wasn't, there was just horny teenagers and bad decisions back to back. That's essentially this entire book.

In fact now looking back at the book, how has Molly actually changed from start to finish? That she's no longer going to take the slut shaming? Okay, but what did the story actually show about her change. Because we're told what she did before the story started, and then we got her doing the exact same thing. So where's the change , the character development? one line at the end of the book about sexist double standards doesn't signify character growth or change.

While there are some points where I did enjoy the taboo drama of it all and occasionally found the story entertaining, I just wish there was more substance to the entire plot and message it was trying to portray.

This was the first Fantasy book I've read in a very long time, and it exceeded my expectations. From the very start I was enthralled by the world and creatures of Faerie. It felt as alluring and mystical as the characters saw it as.

In many books, main character can tend to be too flawless and noble in an attempt to get the reader to like and root for them, but that isn't the case with Jude. I loved her character because of just how her flaws and desires developed her character. It felt like she was at constant odds with everyone around her in her attempt to gain any semblance of the power she desired. It's this desire that leads are down a dark and conflicting path that eats at her sanity throughout the entire book. Her pain, annoyance, and anger is never gone; it's just pushed aside until it gets piled on again and again. I felt suffocated so much in this book because I sympathized with the hurdles Jude faced, I could feel the tensions grow inside of her after every incident that knocked her down, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Something I also liked about this book is the dynamic between the three sisters and that we didn't follow Vivie's perspective. On paper Vivie is the most obvious option to make a main character out of. She's the blood daughter of of Madoc, she has powers that her twins don't, and she is at odds with the world she's forced into by her parent's murderer. The seemingly perfect outline of a character to follow in a fantasy. But what helps make this story distinct is the choice to follow a seemingly normal, character who's already adjusted to the Faerie. A character who with only a distant glance you would assume didn't have nearly as much to offer as being the relatively more ordinary sister to Vivie. But that's exactly what plays into Judes favor. Discovering how she, as an accepted member, but still an outsider to the Faerie develops as a character of her own, and in relation to all those around her who do and do not accept her.

Another aspect of the book that I loved is how easily defined most of the main and supporting cast is. The true nature of every character is able to be seen, but not completely revealed. You can guess and anticipate all of their motives and personalities from a few conversations, but you don't have quite enough to be certain of your assumptions and is still reasonably surprised by the revelations Jude discovers. That is excellent character building and storytelling. Even the characters that you should dislike and despise like Cardan and Madoc, are given incredible depth that can make you see them in a more forgiving light. Cardan antagonizes Jude throughout the first half of the story, but by the end while we still see is cruel nature, it's not in the black and white way we saw him in before. Madoc despite being a foe throughout the entire book just at different lengths, never felt like the true enemy that needed to be hated. Which is exactly how Jude felt, despite the terrible things she knew he had done and continued to do, she never actually condemns him as a true monster that she needs to stay away from and hate. Nonetheless though, was a person we easily understood needed to be stopped.

Going in I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, but now that I have I cannot wait to go and purchase the rest of this amazing series.

What an outstanding book about growing with and past trauma that you can't seem to leave behind. Just going by the synopsis on the back of the book I didn't realize just how heavy this book was going to be in appropriately handling unspeakable trauma's that can happen to us when we're young and vulnerable. I don't think everyone can directly relate to what Mallory and Rider went through and are continuing to go through, but I do think their stories can.

Something I loved about this book was that it showed it was willing to work beyond the surface level for these characters. Mallory didn't just wake up one day in the book and find her voice, no throughout the literal entirety of the book she was steadily working towards getting it. She had multiple ups and downs that represented a realistic journey. Recovery isn't done after one valid attempt at it, it's a constant process which will inevitably include a lot of set backs. But setbacks just like in this book aren't inherently a bad or terrible thing. They're normal. Going through recovery is realizing that you need to go at a pace that's appropriate for you, which means finding your own balance between pushing yourself too much, and not pushing yourself at all. That is one of the strongest points of this story. Everything that Mallory achieved felt EARNED. She didn't have some random epiphany, a boy isn't the sole cause, an intervention isn't what broke her through, it was a collective effort from Mallory and the support system she had made on her journey. Nor did she become some different person after she had gotten to a better place with herself and her voice, she was still the same girl that she was before, just with a stronger sense of confidence and relief.

While this story wasn't about Rider as much as it was about Mallory, the clues about his remaining trauma from the group home he and Mallory shared were there all along. Whether it was comments from himself, the principle, or even Rosa and Carl, Rider was always made to feel like he wasn't at equal footing with everyone else. We as readers, just like Mallory and everyone, took these comments and this mindset and pushed it to the side. Everyone else didn't see it as that big of a deal, and while it concerned Mallory she didn't realize the weight of this burden either until the end of the book. When so many people look at you as a lost cause in such a subtle, but also not subtle way, you eventually become conditioned into letting that be your default into how you view yourself. You accept it as normal and as the truth because it's essentially all you've ever been allowed to know, which is part of why Rider clung to being a savior. Don't get me wrong he genuinely always wanted to keep Mallory safe and protected, but he also wanted to avoid the demons he faced, and the best way to do that was to help Mallory with hers. He wasn't able to look at and accept that maybe he could have a world that he's happy, content, and loved in because he was never allowed that. Despite Mallory, Mr Santos, Jay, Hector, and Ms Luna giving him their love and respect. That kind of damage can't be undone with ease, even if it does seem more subtle.

Rider's story also more directly challenges the predispositions and stereotypes that people hold against foster, and lower class kids. Anyone who could fit into the "tough crowd" or is rebellious is deemed as a lost cause, and not as humans who need more specific help, who need and deserve more care and respect. They're just immediately reduced to being troubled kids who aren't worth anyone times and won't have any future. How are we as a society supposed to expect these kids to turn out if we turn our backs on them just because they're not the conventional, good kid. Someone's social or economic status doesn't define who they are and if they deserve your respect, and Rider's story is at the center of that. Realizing that despite these people who have always and will continue to view him in this way, that he was STILL a somebody. That he was STILL worthy of time, love, and respect. This book may not have centered specifically to him, but it still did him the justice he deserved.

Mallory and Riders relationship was amazing from start to finish. It felt like two genuine people who cared for each other beyond words that could ever be described. There wasn't petty drama between them that was blown out of proportion for the sake of drama, there wasn't out of character mistakes causing it. It was simply two people who loved and cared for each other unconditionally, and helped the other find the courage to work towards the type of person they wanted to be while still staying the person they want to stay true to. This is what a healthy, and developed relationship looks like.

Mallory's relationships with everyone else was great too. Rosa and Carl were amazing, but flawed parents, which endeared them to me as a reader. I loved and got infuriated them all the same as Mallory did. I wish the subplot with their daughter was explored and given a little more time, but I understood it's weight nonetheless. Ainsley was spectacular as well, she was a well-defined character who was supportive, but also had her own story unraveling that Mallory cared for and asked about. jay and Hectors were absolute delights despite the fact we saw very little of them. They
re excellent examples of an ensemble cast that can still have personality, stories, and an arc despite the focus never really being on them alone.

My one major annoyance in the book was Paige. Yes we're not supposed to like her, and I understand to an extent why no one besides Jay stopped her form messing with Mallory. But it did annoy how much she could actually get away with and how Mallory would lie about what Paige says to her, just for the sake of it. Yes she doesn't want to start drama, but she willingly brings up the courage to talk and ask about what Paige says to her, and then just decides to not be upfront about everything that happened. That irked me. It also annoyed me about how Paige's assumptions about Mallory and Rider never truly went checked. She would leave with the same predisposition that she had when starting each conversation. Which yes is also realistic, but as a read it had pissed me off how much she was able to get away with. Especially with the R slur that he friend used when passing Mallory, we get a small paragraph about why Mallory hates it, and it's never brought up again. Paige is a good antagonist, but I feel like the author didn't allow Mallory the luxury of being able to truly defend herself specifically to Paige in a way that felt satisfying. In fact sometimes as stated before it felt like Paige had gotten away with some comments for no other reason besides Mallory randomly deciding to not mention the entire conversation with flimsy reasonings.

Lastly the first half did seem to drag a little, I felt like I had a hard time keeping track of what happened and when, as so much felt like a repetitive cycle in the sense that similar things would happen and be said. Which was intentional to help slowly build Mallory's journey with her voice. I'm not saying that was the wrong voice for the author to make, in fact after finishing the book I agree with it. But purely from an entertainment perspective, it did make the first half drag a little bit.

Overall though I absolutely loved this book, and it had possibly one of the best handlings of recovery. Great story.

I just finished this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While this book is certainly filled with clichés, for the most part I enjoyed it because it played into the main character's (Luna and Will's) story arch's. Though, at times the dialogue got a bit too juvenile for my liking. But nonetheless I think the cliché factor all throughout this book played into it's favor. The lead character's didn't feel one dimensional and their personalities felt thoroughly explored.

The build up of their relationship felt organic and had multiple ups and downs which I appreciated. These are two seemingly very different characters so it makes sense that theirs a push and pull dynamic. Both characters uplift each other in ways that they needed and help them look at life and themselves in different ways. I could feel the chemistry between the characters and couldn't help but root for them.

Something I would have liked though is if Will's story arc about his fears about becoming like his father was more directly addressed. throughout the book it's talked about as a semi-constant underlining fear he has and is why he has a hard time getting closer to others. But by the end of the book it's only briefly touched upon.

Another thing I didn't like was the whiplash of Marty's character. He went from thinking he knew better and wanting to control everything about Luna, to immediately understanding her and her relationship with Will. There was no indication that he was having any type of conflict about how he and Luna's mother was treating her. But he see's her have a panic attack and just has a complete change of heart? He's seen her spiral and struggle in similar ways but only now is when he takes it to heart. He also became a complete cartoon of a character after he had quit. When he found and flew Will out back to LA, his dialogue towards will and Jamie, just all of it. He became a "comedic" tool to push the plot forward and just felt completely out of place. It just took me out of the scene any time he would try to be funny and quirky. The climax of the book was undermined a little because of how ridiculous Marty's character was being.

Overall though while I do feel like the climax would have been a better experience with a better set up with Marty, I still enjoyed the ending scene with Luna and Will on stage, and most of the epilogue.

Overall rating is a 3.5

Here I am again to write my review for another Holly Black book.

Going into this book you need to know what the book is meant to be, a novella. Don't expect super in-depth, full-fledged story and character arcs from it because that's not what the book is intended to offer. It's supposed to be a light-hearted story that gives an extra layer and increased understanding to Cardan's character, and a glimpse to where he is as a person post, The Queen of Nothing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The illustrations were absolutely amazing and had a great art style. I thought the story with Aslog was a nice over-arching theme to follow and I liked how Cardan shows his character growth through a story of his own. Though Aslog's conclusion in the story didn't feel complete, but abruptly frozen after Cardan escaped, just as she was turned to stone. I did also enjoy the snippets of Cardan and Jude being together, as well as him being in the mortal world. It was endearing

With all of that said, I do have mixed feelings about the flashback stories. While they all chronologically all made sense and Cardan's thought process made sense; to me most of the flashbacks that didn't include Aslog's stories felt like they were hanging on to relevance by a strand. Now they do all have some semblance of reason to be mentioned, it just feels too loose. The scenes with Cardan and his brother make sense to be there with the mini-story that's being weaved of cruelty, change, and controlling ones story. But when we get to the flashback scenes that focus on Cardan and Jude, they just seem to be there for the sake of giving them page time. Which I love, I would love to have another novella more committed to the two of them together in the same format or something else, but with the story of this book presented their flashback scenes held very little relevance. Now the scenes with Nicastia, Locke, and Valerian do have more reason to be mentioned in the story, but it feels like their scenes account to nothing really meaningful that we didn't either already know or could infer. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed them, but as I kept reading I was wondering how these scenes actually fit into Cardan's character with the stories he's being told.

So to recap my overall thoughts, loved Cardan, loved Aslog and their stories, loved all of the illustrations, liked all of the flash back scenes with Cardan's perspective, though I just wish they were written into the overall plot of this Novella better. I don't regret my purchase at all, I'm always happy to read more of these characters and this universe, and I hope Holly Black comes back to this series to give them even more spotlight.

Oh my I don't even know where to start. My boys Declan and Melonhead should not have been burdened with the responsibility to carry this book.

I absolutely loved Declan's story throughout this story. His struggles, his pain, his character, just all felt so real and genuine. I felt like it was so easy to connect with his character and understand how he felt throughout the entire story. Almost everything he did and felt, felt justified, not that he didn't do anything wrong, but the reasons he did what he did always made sense. They were never unclear or out of character. He's probably one of the best written characters I've read. Watching him deal with the guilt of his sister dying and how he had to deal with his toxic home life, and how that affected him is why I was so glued into reading this story. For the most part he had an amazing storyline, with few major grievances that I will dote on later in this review.

I also loved Melonhead despite the fact he wasn't in the book all that much, and I like him because of how he helped Declan open his eyes to the trauma that he was forced and guilted into. Throughout the book I was so angry at Declan's mom because she is complicate in what happened to Declans dad and sister(Kerry). But yet she couldn't pay Declan any attention throughout the entire story. When Declan said that he felt like he was an outsider of his own home, he was right. Because his own mother ;et him be pushed out over time. And Melonhead was the first person to actually call it as it is. He finally told Declan that he IS a victim. His mom had no right to have and encourage Declan as a middle schooler to be his Dad's uber driver for when he was drunk. She knew found out about it, encouraged it, and then people died, but yet she had the gal to emotionally cut off her own son. Who SHE put in that position of needing to turn down driving his own drunken father. Melonhead immediately earned all of my respect for putting that BS on the table for Declan to see, because he didn't deserve to feel so guilty for what happened. To feel like it was his fault. His mother knew he felt that way and did nothing to save him from it, in fact she contributed to it every day.

Now to what I disliked throughout the book

First off there's Juliet. Now I don't necessarily dislike her, I just felt so disconnected from her despite the fact she is a main character who has the most page time. Unlike with Declan's story, Juliet's felt so loosely connected. I understood how the death of a parent can leave you permanently scarred, but how that actually effected her everyday life felt more forced and insincere. Not only that but she was also just an absolute dick to Declan for very little reason to be. Did Declan act out too towards her, yes, but the vast majority of the time it was provoked by Juliet for no reason. She throws low blow insults at him practically on the daily ever since she met him, but the story justifies it as Juliet needing to get the first blow in as a defense mechanism. Not only that, its often portrayed that Declan was wrong to ever be upset with her and how he should have thought of or seen xyz and acted differently. No she was just a dick to him despite getting and needing his help.

Next, Alan and Declan's mother. What a dumpster fire. I'll start with the mom since I've already spoken on her a little. I did not like how the story tries to portray her as a victim AT ALL. She is just as fault for Kerry dying as the father is, but besides Melonhead, the book doesn't want to treat it like that. She also emotionally iced out Declan and let Alan treat him like shit, knowing she's at fault. Criminal. Child endangerment. Child abuse. Child neglect. All of these terms apply to the mother who can seem to do no wrong in the eyes of the moral of the story. She is treated like she's just as much of a victim as Declan is. The book literally absolves her of everything she did. They briefly acknowledge it, but then it's like "oh it's okay" "you don't need to do better." HUH?!? She's a terrible parent but i'm supposed to let this book quite literally try to GUILT TRIP ME into thinking she's a victim?!?! Now lets get to Alan. He was such an asshat throughout the entire story, even in the first conversation he has with Declan when he finds out the truth, he is still an asshole. But I'm supposed to believe that after Declan's mom told him the truth about that he had a complete change of heart. Despite the fact that even without the full truth, he was still unreasonably rude and aggressive with him. I'm supposed to believe that he and Declan's mom were worried that whenever Declan went out that they thought he was going to try to kill himself again? Despite the fact that he actively treated him like shit, threatened him, and was abusive towards him. So worried about his wellbeing that neither of them actually gave him any support, they just ignored and abused him (through aggressive or passive means). He also held a grudge with Declan, a high school student, about him not liking him from the start, despite the fact that Alan himself always treated Declan with contempt. YOU ARE AN ADULT. Declan is also TRAUMATIZED AND A CHILD. Alan was just absolutely terrible, and then in like the what, last 50 pages I'm supposed to accept he has a sloppy redemption arc after the abuse he perpetuated onto Declan?

Now let's move on to Juliet's mother. Her role in the story was good for a while. She loved Juliet despite never being around and I could feel the genuine love between them whenever Juliet spoke of her. I also liked the brief glimpses of resentment that Juliet had of her mother because she was never around. But all of that was thrown out the window when it was revealed that she was CHEATING on Juliet's father with her editor...Just why? What was the point of bastardizing a dead mother? She was already established to be a flawed parent. What did that actually contribute to the story? Literally nothing of justifiable value! But that's not even the worst part of it. The dad KNEW ABOUT IT. But only stayed in the relationship because he loved the mother still and loved Juliet, so he didn't want to possibly take that relationship away from them... HUH. What type of toxic BS is this??? That just made me so incredibly angry. Putting up a façade of a loving relationship so your kids don't have divorced parent's is a terrible and unhealthy message.

Something else I didn't like in the book was Declan and Juliet's relationship. I simply did not believe that they had any true, and natural romantic chemistry. The only time I occasionally felt it was when they were messaging each other anonymously, but once they ever had in person dialogue with each other I felt nothing. I think they'd made good friends, but I never felt the static electricity that the book was seemingly trying to give between them. They didn't even seem to like each other as people all that much. Not in an enemy-to-lovers type of way as their dynamic is supposed to be, but just two people who don't connect on the same wavelength and will argue because of it. Which contrasts their relationship online where they do connect a lot more, which is the point of most of the story. That they don't get along in person but do when they anonymously message each other. But the thing is, that's built completely on trauma. It's just mutual trauma dumping that they find a connection in, there's little peaks of completion-trauma related conversations, but they generally lack in quantity and weight to really matter. I just didn't believe in the chemistry they're supposed to have.

Speaking of their online relationship though, while I have made it clear that I love Declan's character, I cannot ignore the pure fact that he was someone completely different when he was messaging Juliet then he was in person to any character whatsoever. There is no connection between the two personas besides the trauma. Yes that's part of the point that when he's messaging Juliet he's his true self because he feels as if she understood him. But, how he spoke through those messages still should of had minor connections to who he was in person. The story acknowledges both personas as being Declan, yet there's no indication of that besides as I said the trauma, and that we're told it's the same person.

Lastly is the out of pocket details and shit that everyone in this book throws out. If you've really read this book then you know what I mean. For example let me quote a line: "Turned out he was scared of Geoff and Kristen because they're black. His dad told him that black people were evil and sent by the devil" (Kemmerer 25). Just what the fuck. Maybe this plays a big role in the book that Rev is the main character in, but at the end of the day this line of dialogue is in this book and holds NO VALUE WHATSOEVER. It doesn't attribute to anything in this story and is never brought up again. What in the hell, why was this line included in the book. But moving on, there were so many times people said messed up shit to each other and it would almost immediately be ignored, or treated as if it didn't actually happen. Like when that photography teacher asked Juliet what her dead mother would think of her not picking up photography again for a fall festival...WHAT. A whole teacher said that and it was like nothing wrong was said. Good intentions or not, that was not okay. Characters would just move past shitty behavior as if nothing offensive towards them was said. Hell the party that should be offended is often treated by the story as if they should be the one who should apologize. Annoyed the hell out of me throughout the entire story. That people who were being disrespected often played down their feelings, retract their feelings, or didn't give a reaction to rude shit for no reason.

There's just so many bad things that happened in this book. At first while I was reading I thought this was going to be a 3 star read, but things just got worse, and worse for me. I like the general concept of this story, but so many things in the execution went wrong. Declan deserved so much better then this.