Cel

i finally managed to finish this book. it didnt take me that long because it was boring or tedious to read, no, i just wanted to be in the right mood for reading it and the last few months just weren't right for it.

but honestly, this book is lovely. i loved the format and i was hooked immediately. 10/10 would read again

it was so much better than expected (especially bc i got it for free on amazon) and i read it almost in one sitting. but. i didnt like some stuff, especially the ending and how it was handled (i wont go into detail bc spoilers, but yeah)

generally though, it was an enjoyable book that helped me keep my sanity while i was waiting for my trains which were majorly delayed

this remains one of my favourite series, even on my 3rd time reading it

Well. I couldn't finish this book. The premise was super interesting and at first I also liked the characters for what they were, but in the end it was too dry and somewhat disappointing for me personally. I couldn't really connect with the characters and felt the plot was a bit too “nebulous”/vague for me.

I was very interested in this series, but I don't think I will give it another shot, for now.

sure, i like having a bisexual poc protagonist, but all of that becomes meaningless once you have a book where the lesbian characters are written in such a hateful way. the author must have an issue with lesbians. i dont know how else to interpret this.

so. dont read this unless you love seeing bisexual and lesbian women fighting and hating each other. not recommended.

there have been others who already mentioned the horrendous marketing that misgenders and deadnames the trans male main character and how the book blurb and previous marketing made it sound like a f/f romance.

and there have been at least two reviews on this book (one on GR, one on twitter) that pretty much confirmed my suspicions: this book won't be good trans rep, or any other kind of good queer rep

actually, i think it might be triggering and harmful for some readers (especially young ones. i wouldnt want a young queer person to read this, especially not if they are trans bc it might leave some lasting, damaging thoughts and images)

and i guess according to this book, queer ppl in the past dont deserve to be happy; instead they all have to suffer and go through traumatizing experiences (that dont ever get resolved properly either, bc who cares, i guess).
its an interesting contrast to her previous books which were always praised for being happy queer historical novels. for a book that was in the works for 10 years... and had sensitivity readers... and it still kept all these harmful tropes... well.
i saw someone describe it as “queer pain porn” and tbh. from what i have heard, that sounds pretty accurate.

i was excited for a historical novel with a trans mc, but god, not like this, nope. lets support ownvoices authors instead

i am ridiculously excited for the sequel, mainly because im very curious about how grace is going to develop throughout the story !!

this book is so lovely and charming, i would recommend this to basically everyone who loves the found family trope and wants a bunch of lovable characters in their story