Michelle Ruiz Keil

teen/adult diverse fantasy fiction (brown-skinned 17 y.o. girl of mixed heritage and rocky past meets new friends in SF before supernatural creatures arrive to "help" her; lots of characters happen to be LGBTQAI ).
refreshing and engaging story--part coming of age, part star-crossed love, part talking-animal fantasy, part atmospheric love letter to SF. Contains drug use (cocaine and heroine, marijuana farming), drinking, and other ill-advised choices teenagers and young adults and rock musicians sometimes make (and sometimes don't survive). Also potential trigger warning: rape, abuse.… (altro)

"You're family now. Whether you live here or not, you're stuck with us."

FORMAT READ: eBook (Adobe Digital Editions)
SIMILAR VIBES: The Sun is Also a Star (vaguely.. and without the magical realism part)

⟹ MY BLOG ⟸
⟹ SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ⟸
*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*

OVERALL: 2.75
I like how there were parts of the story that were crafted around music and gave the readers a bit of an inside experience to what that was like.

The characters bordered on what I would say is whimsical because of the magical realism of the story and their dialogue… like a whimsical personality, if that makes sense. Like that was the vibe I was getting from them. They were interesting enough to keep me going through the whole. Though, there were not a lot of things happening in the plot that interested me,… there were still a lot that seemed to be going on… and it did not sit well with me.

It was a more adult read than I expected going in (especially for a YA) and it was not a plot I was a fan of at first. It was a slow start and even though it was not the worst writing, I couldn’t get myself invested.

The book is very much diverse and if you don’t mind treading about the use of drugs and child abandonment then you may want to try this book.

PLOT: ★★★☆☆
WRITING STYLE: ★★★★☆
CHARACTERS: ★★★☆☆
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS: ★★☆☆☆
THEMES: ★★☆☆☆
PACING: ★★★☆☆
PAGE TURNER: ★★☆☆☆

Thanks to Soho Teen and Michelle Ruiz Keil for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (altro)