interesting lgbtq+ fantasy

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cog98 Avatar

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I heard "genderfluid characters" and "YA fantasy" and the book was out from the library before I could blink. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it that much, which was a huge disappointment because I had such high hopes. I *almost* didn't finish it, but I plowed through.

But here's what I liked!
-the playing with gender and gender roles. Amazing.
-the LGBTQ+ romance between Teo and Cielo
-CIELO is the best character ever and I love them in both boy and girl form
-The strega magic is really well developed and interesting

What I didn't like so much:
-The plot felt kinda all over the place and it was more plot driven than character driven. I think this is ultimately where it fell flat for me. I wanted ALL the Teo and Cielo.
-Teo and Cielo are pretty much the only characters who felt real to me
-There's a lot of murder...without Teo feeling bad about it?
-I got really tired of the phrase "boyish form" or "girlish form"

So I think this was more of a "it's me not the book" situation. I would recommend picking it up to see what you think, because this is exactly the kind of book I want to exist!