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Walking in Two Worlds #1
Walking in Two Worlds
An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew.
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published September 14, 2021
67 people are currently reading
2944 people want to read
About the author
Wab Kinew
14 books186 followersWab Kinew was named by Postmedia News as one of “9 Aboriginal movers and shakers you should know.” He is the leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party and the 25th premier of Manitoba. Before that, he was the Associate Vice-President for Indigenous Relations at The University of Winnipeg and a correspondent with Al-Jazeera America.
After successfully defending Joseph Boyden’s The Orenda on CBC’s Canada Reads literary competition, he was named the 2015 host. In 2012, he also hosted the acclaimed CBC-TV documentary series 8th Fire. His hip-hop music and journalism projects have won numerous awards. He is a member of the Midewiwin, the Anishinaabe society of healers and spiritual leaders. Wab was also an Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
He lives in Winnipeg with his family.
After successfully defending Joseph Boyden’s The Orenda on CBC’s Canada Reads literary competition, he was named the 2015 host. In 2012, he also hosted the acclaimed CBC-TV documentary series 8th Fire. His hip-hop music and journalism projects have won numerous awards. He is a member of the Midewiwin, the Anishinaabe society of healers and spiritual leaders. Wab was also an Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
He lives in Winnipeg with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
January 21, 2024
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Walking in Two Worlds is Indigenous author, Wab Kinew's, Young Adult SFF debut.
Set in the near future, following two teenagers, Bugz and Feng, this narrative swerves between our world and a VR-gaming world both teens are involved in, known as the Floraverse.
Bugz, an Indigenous teen, who grew up on the Rez, is shy and self-conscious in our world, but in the Floraverse, she's strong and confident. She's also the most powerful and popular player in the 'Verse.
Feng is a Chinese boy, recently sent to live on the Rez with his Aunt, the new family practicioner there. Feng was forced to flee China after his online activities suggested he was leaning towards extremist sympathies.
Feng plays in the same game that Bugz dominates and is actually part of a group called, ClanLESS, who is promoting her downfall. Violently.
When Bugz and Feng meet at school, they hit it off right away. He doesn't recognize her from the 'Verse, as her persona there looks a lot different than she does in real life. As they build their relationship, it is finally revealed to him who she is.
He's impressed. Instalove ensues and Feng's loyalties are put to the test. Can Bugz overcome the odds stacked against her?
Clearly, this is an over-simplification of the plot, but I think it is best to just go in knowing you will get great representation, exciting gaming elements, eye-opening commentary on some aspects of the Indigenous experience, as well as heartbreaking examinations of social anxiety, self-confidence and feelings of being powerless, voiceless or helpless.
Certain details of this story hit me hard, but it was a mixed bag. While I genuinely appreciate the level of creativity Kinew brought to this story, including some really great current social issues, I couldn't help but feel that Bugz and Feng played second fiddle to all of that.
It felt like they weren't built-out as much as they could have been. Maybe it was because the book was fairly short, but the insta-love was too heavy for my taste and their personalities felt very flat. I wanted to know them more and I don't think Kinew had the chance to really allow them any growth.
The gaming elements were quite well done. I thought it was exciting and vividly-described. Even though I knew that was a virtual reality, it still hurt my heart when events happened in the game that had a negative impact on Bugz.
The game is so much a part of her life. It is where she feels the most strength; the most like her true self. That was impactful. Well done by Kinew.
Towards the end, there were a couple of plot points that didn't sit quite right with me; for example, an event involving ClanLESS in real life. I believe I understand the symbolism behind that being included, but it just didn't make practical sense.
Also, I was hoping for more personal growth from Bugz. I will admit to being a little unsatisfied with her trajectory.
With this being said, this is a very good story. It's fast-paced and I really feel like I got a lot out of it.
My hope is that this makes it into a lot of school libraries in the United States and Canada. I think YA-Readers will really relate to a lot of the topics explored within this story and the representation is so needed.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Penguin Teen, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I had a lot of fun spending time with Bugz and shed a few tears along the way. I really hope that Wab Kinew continues to write in the YA-Fantasy space. I would love to read more from him!
Walking in Two Worlds is Indigenous author, Wab Kinew's, Young Adult SFF debut.
Set in the near future, following two teenagers, Bugz and Feng, this narrative swerves between our world and a VR-gaming world both teens are involved in, known as the Floraverse.
Bugz, an Indigenous teen, who grew up on the Rez, is shy and self-conscious in our world, but in the Floraverse, she's strong and confident. She's also the most powerful and popular player in the 'Verse.
Feng is a Chinese boy, recently sent to live on the Rez with his Aunt, the new family practicioner there. Feng was forced to flee China after his online activities suggested he was leaning towards extremist sympathies.
Feng plays in the same game that Bugz dominates and is actually part of a group called, ClanLESS, who is promoting her downfall. Violently.
When Bugz and Feng meet at school, they hit it off right away. He doesn't recognize her from the 'Verse, as her persona there looks a lot different than she does in real life. As they build their relationship, it is finally revealed to him who she is.
He's impressed. Instalove ensues and Feng's loyalties are put to the test. Can Bugz overcome the odds stacked against her?
Clearly, this is an over-simplification of the plot, but I think it is best to just go in knowing you will get great representation, exciting gaming elements, eye-opening commentary on some aspects of the Indigenous experience, as well as heartbreaking examinations of social anxiety, self-confidence and feelings of being powerless, voiceless or helpless.
Certain details of this story hit me hard, but it was a mixed bag. While I genuinely appreciate the level of creativity Kinew brought to this story, including some really great current social issues, I couldn't help but feel that Bugz and Feng played second fiddle to all of that.
It felt like they weren't built-out as much as they could have been. Maybe it was because the book was fairly short, but the insta-love was too heavy for my taste and their personalities felt very flat. I wanted to know them more and I don't think Kinew had the chance to really allow them any growth.
The gaming elements were quite well done. I thought it was exciting and vividly-described. Even though I knew that was a virtual reality, it still hurt my heart when events happened in the game that had a negative impact on Bugz.
The game is so much a part of her life. It is where she feels the most strength; the most like her true self. That was impactful. Well done by Kinew.
Towards the end, there were a couple of plot points that didn't sit quite right with me; for example, an event involving ClanLESS in real life. I believe I understand the symbolism behind that being included, but it just didn't make practical sense.
Also, I was hoping for more personal growth from Bugz. I will admit to being a little unsatisfied with her trajectory.
With this being said, this is a very good story. It's fast-paced and I really feel like I got a lot out of it.
My hope is that this makes it into a lot of school libraries in the United States and Canada. I think YA-Readers will really relate to a lot of the topics explored within this story and the representation is so needed.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Penguin Teen, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I had a lot of fun spending time with Bugz and shed a few tears along the way. I really hope that Wab Kinew continues to write in the YA-Fantasy space. I would love to read more from him!
August 24, 2021
I think younger readers will love this YA fantasy novel from Wab Kinew, a well-known media and political figure in Canada.
Set in the near future, Bugz, an indigenous teen and infamous online gamer, struggles with her insecurities and life on the reservation. Online, she is a beautiful and powerful player, but in real life, Bugz battles constantly with her body image and self-confidence.
Meanwhile, Feng, a teen boy from China, has been sent to live with his aunt on Bugz’s reservation. When the two meet they form an instant connection with each other and together they go on some wild adventures, both in real life and online in the Floraverse.
While embarking on these emotional journeys, both Bugz and Feng strive to connect their traditional cultures with the contemporary world they inhabit.
Although this is YA, the story does not flinch in exploring some very dark concepts, such as far right politics, the Uyghur genocide, and self-harm. It’s a lot to pack into a single novel that’s just under 300 pages.
This is a fast-paced action story that I could easily envision as a movie or TV show. Personally, I prefer character-driven novels with little plot, so I didn’t completely fall in love with this one. The romance was very insta-lovey, which I am also not generally a fan of.
I’d recommend this to readers who love video games and learning about indigenous culture.
Overall, this is a solid debut fantasy novel and I will certainly read any future works by Wab Kinew.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Set in the near future, Bugz, an indigenous teen and infamous online gamer, struggles with her insecurities and life on the reservation. Online, she is a beautiful and powerful player, but in real life, Bugz battles constantly with her body image and self-confidence.
Meanwhile, Feng, a teen boy from China, has been sent to live with his aunt on Bugz’s reservation. When the two meet they form an instant connection with each other and together they go on some wild adventures, both in real life and online in the Floraverse.
While embarking on these emotional journeys, both Bugz and Feng strive to connect their traditional cultures with the contemporary world they inhabit.
Although this is YA, the story does not flinch in exploring some very dark concepts, such as far right politics, the Uyghur genocide, and self-harm. It’s a lot to pack into a single novel that’s just under 300 pages.
This is a fast-paced action story that I could easily envision as a movie or TV show. Personally, I prefer character-driven novels with little plot, so I didn’t completely fall in love with this one. The romance was very insta-lovey, which I am also not generally a fan of.
I’d recommend this to readers who love video games and learning about indigenous culture.
Overall, this is a solid debut fantasy novel and I will certainly read any future works by Wab Kinew.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 21, 2024
I've been meaning to give this series a try for a while, and since I added it to some Storygraph challenges, this seemed like the right time to get into it. Unfortunately, I can't say that I liked this, but it wasn't bad, just not really for me.
Even as a gamer, I was slightly confused about the Floraverse, because not enough info was given about it. The plot was all over the place, things weren't properly wrapped up by the end, I didn't really like the romance, nor the characters. The audiobook narration was so slow that I had to crank it up to 2.5x speed for it to sound normal, but that's not a huge issue.
The writing was okay, although more fitting for someone younger than me. In general this was geared more towards younger readers, despite the topics covered. So I'm sure kids would have a better time with this book than I did.
I will still be reading book two, because I'm a completionist and because I added that one to the challenges as well. And who knows, it might be better than this one.
Even as a gamer, I was slightly confused about the Floraverse, because not enough info was given about it. The plot was all over the place, things weren't properly wrapped up by the end, I didn't really like the romance, nor the characters. The audiobook narration was so slow that I had to crank it up to 2.5x speed for it to sound normal, but that's not a huge issue.
The writing was okay, although more fitting for someone younger than me. In general this was geared more towards younger readers, despite the topics covered. So I'm sure kids would have a better time with this book than I did.
I will still be reading book two, because I'm a completionist and because I added that one to the challenges as well. And who knows, it might be better than this one.
July 28, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC. 2/5 stars.
I really, really, really wanted to like this. The cover is beautiful. Indigenous rep is important. But...this book was a mess. It takes place in the near future with mentions of multiple pandemics and also tying in the Uighur Genocide in China with the other character. It's also set in the near future where AR/VR is a constant for the teenagers. The plot was a mess. While it's about Bugz finding herself, I don't think there's any reconciliation between her dilemma of who she is by the end. Feng is a nuisance and got tangled up in the White Supremacist group in the online VR world that Bugz is famous in. This book was also just really unrealistic. I know it's set in the near future, but in what world does a White Supremacist group make it to the Rez in their uniforms and destroys an ancient ancestral site and just...walks away? No one on the rez notices. PLUS then there are 5-6 other plot lines running throughout the book. None get resolved.
The Indigenous culture of the Anishinaabe is beautiful. I loved the details of dancing, traditions, ceremonies, etc., and the relation to the online world Bugs plays in...but that was honestly the only good thing about this book.
I really, really, really wanted to like this. The cover is beautiful. Indigenous rep is important. But...this book was a mess. It takes place in the near future with mentions of multiple pandemics and also tying in the Uighur Genocide in China with the other character. It's also set in the near future where AR/VR is a constant for the teenagers. The plot was a mess. While it's about Bugz finding herself, I don't think there's any reconciliation between her dilemma of who she is by the end. Feng is a nuisance and got tangled up in the White Supremacist group in the online VR world that Bugz is famous in. This book was also just really unrealistic. I know it's set in the near future, but in what world does a White Supremacist group make it to the Rez in their uniforms and destroys an ancient ancestral site and just...walks away? No one on the rez notices. PLUS then there are 5-6 other plot lines running throughout the book. None get resolved.
The Indigenous culture of the Anishinaabe is beautiful. I loved the details of dancing, traditions, ceremonies, etc., and the relation to the online world Bugs plays in...but that was honestly the only good thing about this book.
March 7, 2022
4.5 stars.
(CW: racism, alt-right ideology, Chinese re-education camps, mentions of genocide/colonization, self-harm/suicide mentions, body-shaming).
"I am who I am, in every world I walk in."
So, I feel a lot of things. There are a few subjects of context and plot, etc that I will be going over around the middle of my review, from then I would consider it to become potentially surface-level spoiler-y, nothing too major. As usual, I will disclaim when my actual spoiler-review begins.
I LOVEEEEEEED this book so much, I can barely even contain my thoughts to write a coherent review. Seeing Indigenous culture at the center of such an amazing and captivating story made my heart so incredibly happy, the way that I connected to Bugz as a character was unlike anything I've ever experienced. I learned so much too, about my culture and others. The majority of the strengths of this story come from the Indigenous folklore and culture alone, it is exactly what makes this story and the world truly rich in every sense of the word besides the colonist one.
Seeing as Ready Player One was a book I'd already enjoyed, the bare skeleton of this plotline is no surprise that I enjoyed this book as well. Very similar concepts, some very discernable differences.
The universe in this story is a bit less futuristic, being it is set in the near-distant future, not so far off as multiple pandemics are mentioned, the context within the story is that there were a few pandemics after COVID-19 before we got to the point of the story. I also was never sure where exactly the setting of this book was, but I can pinpoint at least somewhere in Canada.
I think Feng is an interesting enough character, and I think he could've been so much better if he'd been given some actual feasible redemption, but he just sucks. I honestly think Feng only exits as a character to showcase the ugly sort of entitlement that exists in our world right beside regular entitlement born from privilege, Feng has garnered entitlement stemming from oppression, mistreatment, feeling an outcast. It's almost scarier to see someone born from such oppression and segregation, relate to similar struggles against racism as you do, and yet still choose to side with those that would choose to take somebody else's rights away. This story was really enlightening in terms of the incredibly bullshit brain-washing and media blockage going on in China, different cultures with years of lore for each coinciding is really complex and in this case, was really interesting to see.
The best thing about this novel is probably that none of it ever takes place outside of the rez, save for high-school and the hospital (assuming?), I cannot even describe enough how much both familiar and not familiar culture I was so happy to see elaborated upon in this book.
(Going forward, this is now my spoiler-review. Please take caution or do not read further if you do not wish to read spoilers).
I honestly ranked this book one half a star short of the full 5-star treatment for one reason only, and that's the ending. I honestly can't even believe that Feng got another chance after the dumb shit that he did/said. He never even apologized or took accountability for being apart of a white supremist hate group, and yet just apologizing for calling her fat (indirectly apologizing btw) was the bigger issue that erased everything else.
I really loved the northern lights, both her brother and the lights themselves, being the power source for the Thunderbird nest, however I honestly think that it would make a bit more sense for the source to be multiple people, besides ancestors of course, and what I mean by this is that I think Bugz' rez shouldn't be the only one for which a power source like this can be found. She mentions early on in the book that the glitch in the game exists in the first place because nobody bothered to program any VR into the rez, or at the very least; where heritage or cultural monuments are within that. So wouldn't it be the same for at least a few other reservations in the world? It's my wishful thinking, but I would've loved to see more Indigenous women messaging Bugz to reveal their own power sources and them all teaming up to take down the clan that is not a clan and take over the game, at least so those clan members have a helluva time coming back to the game each time. The ending wasn't dissatisfying because of that, as I feel it simply mirrored real life, but when I thought about it more I got more disappointed that she gave Feng a second chance instead of teaming up with a bunch of other badass Indigenous women, lol.
Also, did Waawaate die at the end? That's unclear.
(CW: racism, alt-right ideology, Chinese re-education camps, mentions of genocide/colonization, self-harm/suicide mentions, body-shaming).
"I am who I am, in every world I walk in."
So, I feel a lot of things. There are a few subjects of context and plot, etc that I will be going over around the middle of my review, from then I would consider it to become potentially surface-level spoiler-y, nothing too major. As usual, I will disclaim when my actual spoiler-review begins.
I LOVEEEEEEED this book so much, I can barely even contain my thoughts to write a coherent review. Seeing Indigenous culture at the center of such an amazing and captivating story made my heart so incredibly happy, the way that I connected to Bugz as a character was unlike anything I've ever experienced. I learned so much too, about my culture and others. The majority of the strengths of this story come from the Indigenous folklore and culture alone, it is exactly what makes this story and the world truly rich in every sense of the word besides the colonist one.
Seeing as Ready Player One was a book I'd already enjoyed, the bare skeleton of this plotline is no surprise that I enjoyed this book as well. Very similar concepts, some very discernable differences.
The universe in this story is a bit less futuristic, being it is set in the near-distant future, not so far off as multiple pandemics are mentioned, the context within the story is that there were a few pandemics after COVID-19 before we got to the point of the story. I also was never sure where exactly the setting of this book was, but I can pinpoint at least somewhere in Canada.
I think Feng is an interesting enough character, and I think he could've been so much better if he'd been given some actual feasible redemption, but he just sucks. I honestly think Feng only exits as a character to showcase the ugly sort of entitlement that exists in our world right beside regular entitlement born from privilege, Feng has garnered entitlement stemming from oppression, mistreatment, feeling an outcast. It's almost scarier to see someone born from such oppression and segregation, relate to similar struggles against racism as you do, and yet still choose to side with those that would choose to take somebody else's rights away. This story was really enlightening in terms of the incredibly bullshit brain-washing and media blockage going on in China, different cultures with years of lore for each coinciding is really complex and in this case, was really interesting to see.
The best thing about this novel is probably that none of it ever takes place outside of the rez, save for high-school and the hospital (assuming?), I cannot even describe enough how much both familiar and not familiar culture I was so happy to see elaborated upon in this book.
(Going forward, this is now my spoiler-review. Please take caution or do not read further if you do not wish to read spoilers).
I honestly ranked this book one half a star short of the full 5-star treatment for one reason only, and that's the ending. I honestly can't even believe that Feng got another chance after the dumb shit that he did/said. He never even apologized or took accountability for being apart of a white supremist hate group, and yet just apologizing for calling her fat (indirectly apologizing btw) was the bigger issue that erased everything else.
I really loved the northern lights, both her brother and the lights themselves, being the power source for the Thunderbird nest, however I honestly think that it would make a bit more sense for the source to be multiple people, besides ancestors of course, and what I mean by this is that I think Bugz' rez shouldn't be the only one for which a power source like this can be found. She mentions early on in the book that the glitch in the game exists in the first place because nobody bothered to program any VR into the rez, or at the very least; where heritage or cultural monuments are within that. So wouldn't it be the same for at least a few other reservations in the world? It's my wishful thinking, but I would've loved to see more Indigenous women messaging Bugz to reveal their own power sources and them all teaming up to take down the clan that is not a clan and take over the game, at least so those clan members have a helluva time coming back to the game each time. The ending wasn't dissatisfying because of that, as I feel it simply mirrored real life, but when I thought about it more I got more disappointed that she gave Feng a second chance instead of teaming up with a bunch of other badass Indigenous women, lol.
Also, did Waawaate die at the end? That's unclear.
November 29, 2021
In his YA fantasy & sci-fi debut, Indigenous author Kinew introduces us to “Bugz,” an Indigenous teen who’s “walking in two worlds” — the real and the virtual. In real life, Bugz lives with her respected family in the reservation, navigating the typical teen life & angst and life in the Rez. But in the gaming world of the Floraverse, she’s a confident, dominant player who has amassed tremendous fame & power and is fighting misogynist, racist alt-right group Clan: LESS, who’s goal is to take Bugz out of the game. It’s a blend of gamer geekdom, social issues, and Indigenous culture, one of those novels that are both entertaining & educational. All I can say is that it’s strangely interesting the way the author incorporated the issues & themes together. There were topics that came off wrong for me. I’m not sure what author wanted to achieve or convey with this book, but it got messy real quick. This could’ve been a phenomenal book, love the cover, representation, high-level plot, and setting, but author added complicated topics that I didn’t expect and wasn’t executed properly. It’s really hard for me to articulate it without giving away spoiler. Give it a try. It’s definitely unlike any other YA novels, and there are some parts that are really good. — mo✌️
December 21, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wab Kinew's YA novel introduces us to Bugz, a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who is caught between the world of virtual reality and her real world. Personal family crisis mixed in with a growing number of gamers who wish to crush the virtual civilization that Bugz has created kept me turning the pages.
The vocabulary of the virtual game world will no doubt entice readers who are in the gaming world. There were a few places that I was confused but overall I felt it was an interesting read.
Publication Date 14/09/21
Goodreads review published 14/11/21
Wab Kinew's YA novel introduces us to Bugz, a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who is caught between the world of virtual reality and her real world. Personal family crisis mixed in with a growing number of gamers who wish to crush the virtual civilization that Bugz has created kept me turning the pages.
The vocabulary of the virtual game world will no doubt entice readers who are in the gaming world. There were a few places that I was confused but overall I felt it was an interesting read.
Publication Date 14/09/21
Goodreads review published 14/11/21
December 28, 2021
The concept for this book is so good. A YA Fantasy that involves a young indigenous teen who is learning to navigate her teen years as THE top dog online gamer in a not-so-distant future. This could have been such an incredible book, and it fell flat in so many ways.
The issues within this book are rampant. The first thing I had issue with was the “love story”. I hesitate to even call it that. Can someone explain to me how it’s even remotely realistic how Bugz and Feng fall in love after having… five or six conversations? And what about the logistics of him only speaking Mandarin and her only speaking English and the Anishnaabe language? That bothered me the entire time. If two people do not speak the same language, and they are relying on automatic translators to have deep, meaningful, impactful conversations, then the relationship, if you can even call it that— is doomed from the start.
Another thing I took issue with is how the pandemic was addressed. It was mentioned so many times, and after the first or second time, it got old, really quickly. There’s a way to address a historical event when you are writing a book set in the future, and man did this author miss the mark. It felt so forced, and so choppy. It left a bad taste in my mouth every time those parts came up.
There were other very random politics-adjacent issues that were brought up out of seemingly nowhere and it made it feel like I had stopped reading a YA Fantasy and was suddenly reading the author’s diary. It felt like a thinly veiled attempt at trying to create some depth to Bugz character by having her care about these issues. There are certainly places to address these types of topics in books, and even YA books, but this just felt so out of place.
Something else I found confounding was the gaming system, and the Floraverse. We are never really told in explicit detail how this system works, and every scene that takes place in the “‘Verse” was therefore that much more confusing. I loved the idea of this type of ‘Ready Player One’ gaming universe and was so excited to see how this author fleshed it out in his novel, but it fell so flat for me.
Another issue was the couple of random subplots and story lines that came out of literally nowhere and served almost no purpose. Here are a few that left me reeling from confusion:
1)Waawaate having bone cancer. I mean…. Why? Seriously. What was the point of that? We don’t have any closure at the end of the book. Does he die? Does he live? Does his cancer give Bugz strength? Does it test her? I guess. I just didn’t get it.
2)Feng being brain-washed by some political party back home in China. I did not really understand this story line. Perhaps this is because I listened to this as an audiobook, but I did not understand what was going on here at all. It felt so pointless to add that part in.
3)Stormy and Chalice did not seem to like Bugz at the beginning of the book. They wanted to be near her to get to her brother. And then randomly when Waawaate is in the hospital, Stormy and Bugz are close enough for Bugz to text her to come to the hospital, as a friend? How did that happen?!?
4)The completely random self-harm and suicidal ideation at the end of the book was not it. It felt like an editor told the author that he had to include those topics somewhere in the book and the author picked a random page and wrote that topic in. It was so badly written, and so out of nowhere.
The ONLY, and I mean the ONLY thing that redeemed this book was learning about the incredibly beautiful and rich culture that the Anishnaabe people have. Learning about their mythical creatures, their language, their ceremonies and their beliefs was so enriching to my life. I love love loved learning as much as I could about them. One thing the author does well in this book, is engulf you in the culture of the characters.
There are other things that bothered me that aren’t necessarily issues within the book but things that bother me personally as a reader, but there’s no need to mention those here. Overall, this is a semi-fun quick read, but by no means is this a great book.
The issues within this book are rampant. The first thing I had issue with was the “love story”. I hesitate to even call it that. Can someone explain to me how it’s even remotely realistic how Bugz and Feng fall in love after having… five or six conversations? And what about the logistics of him only speaking Mandarin and her only speaking English and the Anishnaabe language? That bothered me the entire time. If two people do not speak the same language, and they are relying on automatic translators to have deep, meaningful, impactful conversations, then the relationship, if you can even call it that— is doomed from the start.
Another thing I took issue with is how the pandemic was addressed. It was mentioned so many times, and after the first or second time, it got old, really quickly. There’s a way to address a historical event when you are writing a book set in the future, and man did this author miss the mark. It felt so forced, and so choppy. It left a bad taste in my mouth every time those parts came up.
There were other very random politics-adjacent issues that were brought up out of seemingly nowhere and it made it feel like I had stopped reading a YA Fantasy and was suddenly reading the author’s diary. It felt like a thinly veiled attempt at trying to create some depth to Bugz character by having her care about these issues. There are certainly places to address these types of topics in books, and even YA books, but this just felt so out of place.
Something else I found confounding was the gaming system, and the Floraverse. We are never really told in explicit detail how this system works, and every scene that takes place in the “‘Verse” was therefore that much more confusing. I loved the idea of this type of ‘Ready Player One’ gaming universe and was so excited to see how this author fleshed it out in his novel, but it fell so flat for me.
Another issue was the couple of random subplots and story lines that came out of literally nowhere and served almost no purpose. Here are a few that left me reeling from confusion:
1)Waawaate having bone cancer. I mean…. Why? Seriously. What was the point of that? We don’t have any closure at the end of the book. Does he die? Does he live? Does his cancer give Bugz strength? Does it test her? I guess. I just didn’t get it.
2)Feng being brain-washed by some political party back home in China. I did not really understand this story line. Perhaps this is because I listened to this as an audiobook, but I did not understand what was going on here at all. It felt so pointless to add that part in.
3)Stormy and Chalice did not seem to like Bugz at the beginning of the book. They wanted to be near her to get to her brother. And then randomly when Waawaate is in the hospital, Stormy and Bugz are close enough for Bugz to text her to come to the hospital, as a friend? How did that happen?!?
4)The completely random self-harm and suicidal ideation at the end of the book was not it. It felt like an editor told the author that he had to include those topics somewhere in the book and the author picked a random page and wrote that topic in. It was so badly written, and so out of nowhere.
The ONLY, and I mean the ONLY thing that redeemed this book was learning about the incredibly beautiful and rich culture that the Anishnaabe people have. Learning about their mythical creatures, their language, their ceremonies and their beliefs was so enriching to my life. I love love loved learning as much as I could about them. One thing the author does well in this book, is engulf you in the culture of the characters.
There are other things that bothered me that aren’t necessarily issues within the book but things that bother me personally as a reader, but there’s no need to mention those here. Overall, this is a semi-fun quick read, but by no means is this a great book.
January 20, 2025
2024 reads: 303/250
2024 tbr: 88/120
content warnings: self harm, suicide attempt, colonization, racism, fatphobia
bugz is caught between two worlds: the real world, where she’s a shy and self-conscious teen who lives on the rez, and the virtual world, where her alter ego is confident and has rebuilt much of the lost anishinaabe land and culture. feng is a teen boy who has moved from china to live with his aunt on the rez after his online activity shows he’s caught up in an extremist group. the two immediately click with each other as outsiders and gamers, but bugz can’t help but feel betrayed when she realizes feng is part of the group that’s been harassing her online.
unfortunately, this book was just okay for me. i loved the concept, but the execution just felt jumbled. we’d get from one place to another without a very clear explanation of how we got there. while this did decrease my enjoyment of the book overall, i still did like the discussions on colonization and extremist groups. i’m curious to see where book two takes us!
2024 tbr: 88/120
content warnings: self harm, suicide attempt, colonization, racism, fatphobia
bugz is caught between two worlds: the real world, where she’s a shy and self-conscious teen who lives on the rez, and the virtual world, where her alter ego is confident and has rebuilt much of the lost anishinaabe land and culture. feng is a teen boy who has moved from china to live with his aunt on the rez after his online activity shows he’s caught up in an extremist group. the two immediately click with each other as outsiders and gamers, but bugz can’t help but feel betrayed when she realizes feng is part of the group that’s been harassing her online.
unfortunately, this book was just okay for me. i loved the concept, but the execution just felt jumbled. we’d get from one place to another without a very clear explanation of how we got there. while this did decrease my enjoyment of the book overall, i still did like the discussions on colonization and extremist groups. i’m curious to see where book two takes us!
December 27, 2021
What is the perfect mixture of balance between two worlds?
I was browsing Indigo’s website one day and I saw this book. I was enticed by the cover and title, but what captured me was the story. A teen who was trying to balance life between the Rez and the Floraverse.
Our main character, Bugz, is a super famous gamer. She is the number one player in the game Floraverse. After the many pandemics that have happened, and the government hacking social media, the Floraverse was created by hackers to be a safe space. And for Bugz, the Floraverse is that plus a space to honour her ancestors.
This leads me too the second world, the Rez. She lives with her older brother, Waawaate, and her parents. She honours traditions and practices, and applies them to her life. She also applies them to the Floraverse, but you can read to find out the importance of her tradition there. To her, family is the most important part of life. Family is the sugar that is sprinkled over everything, and family is what makes life easier.
Until she meets Feng.
Who’s kind of a cute boy… okay really cute, who also plays in the Floraverse. He moved from China to aunt’s place in the Rez. She is working there as a doctor. His journey has been really tough, and to be honest, Clan: LESS is what has gotten him through everything. Although Bugz is there main enemy, he can put it aside for school and on the Rez.
When their world’s collide, everything changes. And a betrayal almost ends everything.
The whole book leads us to the question of how we are living our lives. Are we ever doing enough.
One wish I had for this book was more of real life. I got to read plenty of life in the Floraverse, but I am still wishing for more of life in the Rez. Her traditions, rituals, and songs are so powerful, and I felt so lucky to experience them. I also wondered what it was like to go to high school famous? I didn’t get to see much of that in this book.
Overall, I really loved this book. Although there are minor wishes, this book was really unique. It was a futuristic book, and talked about the possibility of pandemic after pandemic. This book also talked about Uyghur Muslims and the aftermath. This book also showed what might happen to the world.
Pros: Lots of diversity, very descriptive, and impossible to stop reading! Also nothing like any book I have ever read.
Cons: Not enough of “real life”, and I wish I had more information about what happened to the world since he gave us a hint.
Recommend for: someone who wants a light read and something different
Rating: 4.25 stars!
I was browsing Indigo’s website one day and I saw this book. I was enticed by the cover and title, but what captured me was the story. A teen who was trying to balance life between the Rez and the Floraverse.
Our main character, Bugz, is a super famous gamer. She is the number one player in the game Floraverse. After the many pandemics that have happened, and the government hacking social media, the Floraverse was created by hackers to be a safe space. And for Bugz, the Floraverse is that plus a space to honour her ancestors.
This leads me too the second world, the Rez. She lives with her older brother, Waawaate, and her parents. She honours traditions and practices, and applies them to her life. She also applies them to the Floraverse, but you can read to find out the importance of her tradition there. To her, family is the most important part of life. Family is the sugar that is sprinkled over everything, and family is what makes life easier.
Until she meets Feng.
Who’s kind of a cute boy… okay really cute, who also plays in the Floraverse. He moved from China to aunt’s place in the Rez. She is working there as a doctor. His journey has been really tough, and to be honest, Clan: LESS is what has gotten him through everything. Although Bugz is there main enemy, he can put it aside for school and on the Rez.
When their world’s collide, everything changes. And a betrayal almost ends everything.
The whole book leads us to the question of how we are living our lives. Are we ever doing enough.
One wish I had for this book was more of real life. I got to read plenty of life in the Floraverse, but I am still wishing for more of life in the Rez. Her traditions, rituals, and songs are so powerful, and I felt so lucky to experience them. I also wondered what it was like to go to high school famous? I didn’t get to see much of that in this book.
Overall, I really loved this book. Although there are minor wishes, this book was really unique. It was a futuristic book, and talked about the possibility of pandemic after pandemic. This book also talked about Uyghur Muslims and the aftermath. This book also showed what might happen to the world.
Pros: Lots of diversity, very descriptive, and impossible to stop reading! Also nothing like any book I have ever read.
Cons: Not enough of “real life”, and I wish I had more information about what happened to the world since he gave us a hint.
Recommend for: someone who wants a light read and something different
Rating: 4.25 stars!
January 25, 2022
The synopsis of this book led me to believe this would be like Ready Player One, but BIPOC. It was certainly about a game, but also identity, belonging, culture, body image. There was A LOT packed into 277 pages, and so many loose ends that just remained that way. I had very strong feelings about how some heavier topics were either not addressed or mishandled altogether:
-Feng was kicked out of China for joining a White Supremacist gaming group online. His teammates would say sexist and racist comments - even toward him - and he brushed them off as no big deal because he was lonely and felt he belonged to a group of friends.
-Feng only left the group because he became friends with Bugz, not because he also believed it was wrong
-Bugz knows her cousin cuts herself but doesn’t tell anyone about it
-Both Bugz and Feng encounter racism at school on a regular basis, tell no one, and do nothing about it. This is teaching BIPOC kids that this is normalized and to sweep it under the rug, further perpetuating the issues!
-This White Supremacist group destroyed an Indigenous monument in real life and got away with it
-Did Bugz’s brother die and she was more interested in diving back into her virtual gaming universe than in going to the hospital to be with him?
-Feng was kicked out of China for joining a White Supremacist gaming group online. His teammates would say sexist and racist comments - even toward him - and he brushed them off as no big deal because he was lonely and felt he belonged to a group of friends.
-Feng only left the group because he became friends with Bugz, not because he also believed it was wrong
-Bugz knows her cousin cuts herself but doesn’t tell anyone about it
-Both Bugz and Feng encounter racism at school on a regular basis, tell no one, and do nothing about it. This is teaching BIPOC kids that this is normalized and to sweep it under the rug, further perpetuating the issues!
-This White Supremacist group destroyed an Indigenous monument in real life and got away with it
-Did Bugz’s brother die and she was more interested in diving back into her virtual gaming universe than in going to the hospital to be with him?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2021
Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Walking in Two Worlds in exchange for an honest review.
First off, DON'T LISTEN TO MY OPINION HERE. Plot and character wise Walking in Two Worlds was great, it's just not something I can give a high rating because of my personal preferences as a reader. Even for a video-game book, this is very game play heavy which I know some readers really really enjoy but I can't visualize which means no matter how intricate or descriptively beautiful lengthy fight scenes are, they kind of drag.
If you do like video game books and creative fight scenes, read this! Everything outside of the gameplay was incredible so you'll love it.
First off, DON'T LISTEN TO MY OPINION HERE. Plot and character wise Walking in Two Worlds was great, it's just not something I can give a high rating because of my personal preferences as a reader. Even for a video-game book, this is very game play heavy which I know some readers really really enjoy but I can't visualize which means no matter how intricate or descriptively beautiful lengthy fight scenes are, they kind of drag.
If you do like video game books and creative fight scenes, read this! Everything outside of the gameplay was incredible so you'll love it.
November 11, 2021
3.5 stars.
Main character Bugz, an indigenous teen, is shy and self-conscious in real life, but in the huge online game she plays she’s an unbelievably powerful and confident warrior. She’s consequently targeted constantly by many of the men who also play the game, with several banding together to take her down. One of them, a Uyghur teen whose parents are imprisoned by the Chinese government, moves to the reserve where Bugz resides to live with his aunt, the new doctor on the reserve.
Bugz and Feng become real life friends, with Bugz sharing her secrets to her game longevity and strength with Feng, who subsequently shares this information with his band. Chaos ensues in game, with Bugz almost completely defeated and Feng realizing that his so-called friends, whose camaraderie helped him get through his parents’ absence, are a bunch of misogynistic and racist creeps (big surprise). This revelation also forces him to confront his own confused feelings about his re-education by the Chinese government and his parents continued incarceration, while Bugz has to deal with her broken trust and a number of real-life family health issues that are happening concurrently.
Mostly enjoyable, but I didn’t buy that Bugz would trust Feng so easily that she’d share her in-game secrets with someone who tacitly supports his band’s bigoted targeting of Bugz.
Main character Bugz, an indigenous teen, is shy and self-conscious in real life, but in the huge online game she plays she’s an unbelievably powerful and confident warrior. She’s consequently targeted constantly by many of the men who also play the game, with several banding together to take her down. One of them, a Uyghur teen whose parents are imprisoned by the Chinese government, moves to the reserve where Bugz resides to live with his aunt, the new doctor on the reserve.
Bugz and Feng become real life friends, with Bugz sharing her secrets to her game longevity and strength with Feng, who subsequently shares this information with his band. Chaos ensues in game, with Bugz almost completely defeated and Feng realizing that his so-called friends, whose camaraderie helped him get through his parents’ absence, are a bunch of misogynistic and racist creeps (big surprise). This revelation also forces him to confront his own confused feelings about his re-education by the Chinese government and his parents continued incarceration, while Bugz has to deal with her broken trust and a number of real-life family health issues that are happening concurrently.
Mostly enjoyable, but I didn’t buy that Bugz would trust Feng so easily that she’d share her in-game secrets with someone who tacitly supports his band’s bigoted targeting of Bugz.
October 10, 2022
I really wanted to love this book. it’s rare to find an indigenous main characters in ya fantasy. So it pains my heart to be so disappointed.
First off, the positive aspects of the book. I loved reading about the indigenous culture, especially since it’s something I never got to experience. Also the VR was pretty cool, y’all read that thunderbird too? Right?
This novel had so much potential to be so good. The writing was so juvenile I couldn’t read it on its own, I needed to listen to the audiobook for it to make sense. Felt like I was reading a middle grade book then a young adult. The characters were very flat, they all seemed similar in one way or another. The VR world wasn’t expanded outside of the battle with the clan: less or how Bugz got her advantage in the spirit world.
If this book had more time to develop and become more fleshed out with an actual plan it would’ve been an amazing book.
First off, the positive aspects of the book. I loved reading about the indigenous culture, especially since it’s something I never got to experience. Also the VR was pretty cool, y’all read that thunderbird too? Right?
This novel had so much potential to be so good. The writing was so juvenile I couldn’t read it on its own, I needed to listen to the audiobook for it to make sense. Felt like I was reading a middle grade book then a young adult. The characters were very flat, they all seemed similar in one way or another. The VR world wasn’t expanded outside of the battle with the clan: less or how Bugz got her advantage in the spirit world.
If this book had more time to develop and become more fleshed out with an actual plan it would’ve been an amazing book.
October 26, 2021
I enjoyed the chance to learn more about Anishinaabe culture, but overall I felt the story was lacking. The game elements were kind of confusing and underdeveloped, and the characters were shallow and flat. Bugz seemed entirely too willing to forgive Feng for...being a Neo-Nazi? Although she tried a few times to talk him out of his allegiance to a misogynistic, far-right hate group, that didn't stop her from instantly forming a relationship with him. I thought the narrative around self-harm and suicidal ideation was rushed and poorly handled. I also couldn't get invested in the stakes - did it really matter if she lost in the game? Especially when, as we later learn, she found a cheat code in the game that basically made every loss temporary and meaningless. Overall, I was confused and bored. Maybe I am just not the audience for this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2022
This was a masterpiece of YA fiction. A near perfect blend of teenage coming of age and sci-fi universe.
Initially I was confused because I don’t understand one single thing about video games or alternative reality, but as you read it quickly takes shape in your mind. As I started to understand the sci-fi/virtual reality part, I quickly realized how dangerous the internet can be. And how much far right radicalization occurs without anyone realizing.
As a whole this book was heartbreaking. Body image issues, patriarchy, racism, colonialism, inter-generational trauma, grief, suicide, everything comes together to tear your heart apart in new ways.
Highly recommend!!
Initially I was confused because I don’t understand one single thing about video games or alternative reality, but as you read it quickly takes shape in your mind. As I started to understand the sci-fi/virtual reality part, I quickly realized how dangerous the internet can be. And how much far right radicalization occurs without anyone realizing.
As a whole this book was heartbreaking. Body image issues, patriarchy, racism, colonialism, inter-generational trauma, grief, suicide, everything comes together to tear your heart apart in new ways.
Highly recommend!!
November 15, 2022
this book is so shit
do not buy
do not buy
September 24, 2021
This novel is the most dynamic mashup ever. Consider the characters:
Feng is a Mandarin-speaking Uyghur teen, an ethnic minority in China all too familiar with devastating treatment and racism. He has just moved to a First Nations reserve in Canada, where he’s trying to fit in.
Bugz is an Anishinaabe teen, a minority in Canada all too familiar with devastating treatment and racism. She lives on this same First Nations reserve in Canada, where she struggles with her self-image as it relates to her weight, in stark contrast to her online confidence and status as a virtuoso gamer.
Naturally, the two become romantically drawn to one another, never mind that they’re arch-enemies in a gaming world where they spend most of their time participating in intense battles. It’s a place where gamertags are forever “rising to the heavens,” and memes, avatars and noobs are the vernacular.
Feng: “The Alternate Reality world is a filter to make yourself look better, or whatever, and make the world around you more fun. But Virtual Reality is where the missions and clans and a never-ending universe of possibilities takes place. The ‘Verse started as open-source. Hackers built it ages ago after the governments took over social media. Way back, during the pandemics… What’s smart is they distributed it all across a blockchain. No central servers, no central authority. In the Floraverse, reality is a blockchain.”
Not intrigued yet? Add moments of cultural insight involving sacred sites, the northern lights, sun dancers, sweat lodges and powwows. Glimpse the ominous draw and tension of gang life – called “clans” here – along with other teen issues such as cutting, misogynistic behavior (treating girls as second-class citizens) and suicidal thoughts.
Now stir in magic realism via the pair’s virtual world, including an underwater saber-tooth panther-snake, giant bulletproof Thunderbirds, special submarines and aircraft, and more.
An observer able to parse the nanoseconds from the milliseconds would’ve seen the individual laser beams, bullets, fire-tipped arrows and buckshot closing in on Bugz from nearly every one of the 360 degrees around her. As the fire raced toward Bugz, the giant underwater serpent she’d summoned shot up from the depths below, smashing the burning canoe to embers and tossing the young woman high into the air. Bugz grabbed the supernatural being’s horns as it continued to climb in altitude. The gunfire and projectiles rammed into the monster’s ascending body and ricocheted off like sound waves from a metal wall.
It’s cleverness wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It’s also author Wab Kinew -- celebrated journalist, hip-hop artist and television host -- taking us all on a masterfully-crafted wild ride.
Sometimes the reader will wonder which world the characters are in: real or digital. The transitions are not always clear. Get used to the discomfiting confusion; it’s purposeful.
Just for the record, Bugz is the more prominent character. Never mind. It’s still an excellent read for guys. Especially if they’re gamers open to examining the nexus between the real world, digital world and spirit world.
This review also appears at www.YAdudebooks.ca
Feng is a Mandarin-speaking Uyghur teen, an ethnic minority in China all too familiar with devastating treatment and racism. He has just moved to a First Nations reserve in Canada, where he’s trying to fit in.
Bugz is an Anishinaabe teen, a minority in Canada all too familiar with devastating treatment and racism. She lives on this same First Nations reserve in Canada, where she struggles with her self-image as it relates to her weight, in stark contrast to her online confidence and status as a virtuoso gamer.
Naturally, the two become romantically drawn to one another, never mind that they’re arch-enemies in a gaming world where they spend most of their time participating in intense battles. It’s a place where gamertags are forever “rising to the heavens,” and memes, avatars and noobs are the vernacular.
Feng: “The Alternate Reality world is a filter to make yourself look better, or whatever, and make the world around you more fun. But Virtual Reality is where the missions and clans and a never-ending universe of possibilities takes place. The ‘Verse started as open-source. Hackers built it ages ago after the governments took over social media. Way back, during the pandemics… What’s smart is they distributed it all across a blockchain. No central servers, no central authority. In the Floraverse, reality is a blockchain.”
Not intrigued yet? Add moments of cultural insight involving sacred sites, the northern lights, sun dancers, sweat lodges and powwows. Glimpse the ominous draw and tension of gang life – called “clans” here – along with other teen issues such as cutting, misogynistic behavior (treating girls as second-class citizens) and suicidal thoughts.
Now stir in magic realism via the pair’s virtual world, including an underwater saber-tooth panther-snake, giant bulletproof Thunderbirds, special submarines and aircraft, and more.
An observer able to parse the nanoseconds from the milliseconds would’ve seen the individual laser beams, bullets, fire-tipped arrows and buckshot closing in on Bugz from nearly every one of the 360 degrees around her. As the fire raced toward Bugz, the giant underwater serpent she’d summoned shot up from the depths below, smashing the burning canoe to embers and tossing the young woman high into the air. Bugz grabbed the supernatural being’s horns as it continued to climb in altitude. The gunfire and projectiles rammed into the monster’s ascending body and ricocheted off like sound waves from a metal wall.
It’s cleverness wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It’s also author Wab Kinew -- celebrated journalist, hip-hop artist and television host -- taking us all on a masterfully-crafted wild ride.
Sometimes the reader will wonder which world the characters are in: real or digital. The transitions are not always clear. Get used to the discomfiting confusion; it’s purposeful.
Just for the record, Bugz is the more prominent character. Never mind. It’s still an excellent read for guys. Especially if they’re gamers open to examining the nexus between the real world, digital world and spirit world.
This review also appears at www.YAdudebooks.ca
May 17, 2023
Ready Player one Indigenous-style!
December 9, 2024
This book is one of the worst things I’ve read in a long time.
The characters are underdeveloped and annoying, the plot is full of loose ends, the dialogue makes me feel like my soul is dying, and nothing makes any sense.
I’ll start by talking about the main character, Bugz. Her internal dialogue is really annoying, every two or three lines she’s going ‘oh..I’m so ugly..I’m slightly curvier than other people’. This issue of Bugz’ negative self-image was not handled well. Coming across more like a bad YA “I’m not like the other girls’ character”, than an average teenager.
Feng’s entire character arc is so strange, he starts out as part of the ‘bad guy’ team, CLAN:LESS. A racist, misogynist group of people, but no time is dedicated to how he even joined them in the first place, or why he did. In fact, they’re actually kind of glorified, and made to seem like ‘cool, tough, scary guys’, and not racist losers.
Bugz and Feng’s ‘relationship’ is so forced, and it comes out of nowhere. Bugz’s thoughts about Feng are almost completely negative, but she’s also kind of in love with him? Make it make sense. No time is spent showing their relationship progress, they don’t like each other, and all of a sudden they’re in love. There is a serious lack of character development in this book. And now, onto my problems with the villain.
The leader of CLAN:LESS, Alpha (stupid name by the way), is the main villain, and no time is dedicated to fleshing him out. Which is a massive problem, your main villain needs a personality, and motivations, otherwise, the conflict seems pointless. A mysterious villain can be done well, for example Sauron from Lord of The Rings, but here, it doesn’t come across as intentional. It feels less like the author purposefully made Alpha a mystery, but more like he just forgot to give him a backstory.
Onto the mess that is what this book calls a plot. The ‘plot’, is a shambling mess of loose ends and random plotlines, barely disguised as something functional. Nothing goes anywhere, there’s hardly any continuity, and it doesn’t flow very well. Random story beats pop up out of nowhere, for example, ‘oh, Waawaate has cancer all of a sudden, no foreshadowing, nothing. He just does’. And what does Feng feel about what happened to his parents? I don’t know, the most the book tells us is that he’s upset. I don’t even know what the main conflict is. This book spends too much time trying to be ‘hip with the youths’, which brings me to my next problem, the dialogue.
My god, the dialogue. It feels like a middle aged man trying to write about a teenage girl. Because that’s precisely what it is. The dialogue feels as if the author has only ever spoken to two teenage girls on the street. Nobody talks like that. Nobody. And the chatspeak from when Bugz is in the Floraverse is completely unnecessary, and just cringe. It cheapens it somehow. Now, I’m going to talk about the Floraverse itself.
The Floraverse, for an integral part of the plot, really gets sidelined. Nothing about it makes any sense. Like, you have to mine crypto in order for it to work? But how does Bugz’s family, who I doubt are very rich, afford that? Do you draw power from your culture? But what about mixed-race people, such as myself? Is it VR? Does each player have a private base? If so, how did CLAN:LESS find Bugz’s? What happens if someone dies in the Floraverse? Can you even die in the Floraverse? How does it work? Is it a game? I don’t know, it’s never explained.
In conclusion, Walking in Two Worlds is a shambling, messy anger-inducing, confusing, irritating, plot hole disguised as a book. If I could give it zero stars, I would. And that's being generous.
oh lmao i forgot like a good chunk of the plot, it's been like, idfk seven months i think, time to add more to my rant!!!
They just completely forgive Feng for being a literal neo-nazi and I'm like what the fuck? Why?? Also CLAN:LESS like destroys an entire monument irl somehow? Idk HOW they got there or how nobody noticed, but ok I guess. Also Stormy is all of a sudden Bugz' bestie? like girl.. she was fucking being racist to your former neo-nazi boyfriend??? Also the thing with her cousin was just plain upsetting honestly. I would say this book is for younger readers, but then out of the blue there's racism, fatphobia, self-harm and suicide, and I'm thoroughly convinced that this book does NOT know who it is for.
It's too immature for middle school, but too dark for most elementary schoolers, but those dark topics are handled so *so* poorly.
My middle school had like 70 copies of this that were only ever signed out for book reports (like me and my class), and I found out *why* the hard way.
Teachers, do not read this to your class, they don't deserve to be subjected to this endless void of all that is good, it will not inspire them, it will only make them pissed at you. I update my review to be a negative five out of five
The characters are underdeveloped and annoying, the plot is full of loose ends, the dialogue makes me feel like my soul is dying, and nothing makes any sense.
I’ll start by talking about the main character, Bugz. Her internal dialogue is really annoying, every two or three lines she’s going ‘oh..I’m so ugly..I’m slightly curvier than other people’. This issue of Bugz’ negative self-image was not handled well. Coming across more like a bad YA “I’m not like the other girls’ character”, than an average teenager.
Feng’s entire character arc is so strange, he starts out as part of the ‘bad guy’ team, CLAN:LESS. A racist, misogynist group of people, but no time is dedicated to how he even joined them in the first place, or why he did. In fact, they’re actually kind of glorified, and made to seem like ‘cool, tough, scary guys’, and not racist losers.
Bugz and Feng’s ‘relationship’ is so forced, and it comes out of nowhere. Bugz’s thoughts about Feng are almost completely negative, but she’s also kind of in love with him? Make it make sense. No time is spent showing their relationship progress, they don’t like each other, and all of a sudden they’re in love. There is a serious lack of character development in this book. And now, onto my problems with the villain.
The leader of CLAN:LESS, Alpha (stupid name by the way), is the main villain, and no time is dedicated to fleshing him out. Which is a massive problem, your main villain needs a personality, and motivations, otherwise, the conflict seems pointless. A mysterious villain can be done well, for example Sauron from Lord of The Rings, but here, it doesn’t come across as intentional. It feels less like the author purposefully made Alpha a mystery, but more like he just forgot to give him a backstory.
Onto the mess that is what this book calls a plot. The ‘plot’, is a shambling mess of loose ends and random plotlines, barely disguised as something functional. Nothing goes anywhere, there’s hardly any continuity, and it doesn’t flow very well. Random story beats pop up out of nowhere, for example, ‘oh, Waawaate has cancer all of a sudden, no foreshadowing, nothing. He just does’. And what does Feng feel about what happened to his parents? I don’t know, the most the book tells us is that he’s upset. I don’t even know what the main conflict is. This book spends too much time trying to be ‘hip with the youths’, which brings me to my next problem, the dialogue.
My god, the dialogue. It feels like a middle aged man trying to write about a teenage girl. Because that’s precisely what it is. The dialogue feels as if the author has only ever spoken to two teenage girls on the street. Nobody talks like that. Nobody. And the chatspeak from when Bugz is in the Floraverse is completely unnecessary, and just cringe. It cheapens it somehow. Now, I’m going to talk about the Floraverse itself.
The Floraverse, for an integral part of the plot, really gets sidelined. Nothing about it makes any sense. Like, you have to mine crypto in order for it to work? But how does Bugz’s family, who I doubt are very rich, afford that? Do you draw power from your culture? But what about mixed-race people, such as myself? Is it VR? Does each player have a private base? If so, how did CLAN:LESS find Bugz’s? What happens if someone dies in the Floraverse? Can you even die in the Floraverse? How does it work? Is it a game? I don’t know, it’s never explained.
In conclusion, Walking in Two Worlds is a shambling, messy anger-inducing, confusing, irritating, plot hole disguised as a book. If I could give it zero stars, I would. And that's being generous.
oh lmao i forgot like a good chunk of the plot, it's been like, idfk seven months i think, time to add more to my rant!!!
They just completely forgive Feng for being a literal neo-nazi and I'm like what the fuck? Why?? Also CLAN:LESS like destroys an entire monument irl somehow? Idk HOW they got there or how nobody noticed, but ok I guess. Also Stormy is all of a sudden Bugz' bestie? like girl.. she was fucking being racist to your former neo-nazi boyfriend??? Also the thing with her cousin was just plain upsetting honestly. I would say this book is for younger readers, but then out of the blue there's racism, fatphobia, self-harm and suicide, and I'm thoroughly convinced that this book does NOT know who it is for.
It's too immature for middle school, but too dark for most elementary schoolers, but those dark topics are handled so *so* poorly.
My middle school had like 70 copies of this that were only ever signed out for book reports (like me and my class), and I found out *why* the hard way.
Teachers, do not read this to your class, they don't deserve to be subjected to this endless void of all that is good, it will not inspire them, it will only make them pissed at you. I update my review to be a negative five out of five
April 8, 2023
Bagonegiizhigok ‘Bugz’ Holiday is known as the best player in the Floraverse, the virtual world that has dominated youth culture since the pandemics of the 20s. She incorporates her culture with the code to recreate an Anishinaabe paradise with two divine monsters to assist her in combat (a Thunderbird and Mishi-pizhiw). An alt-right men-only group called Clan:LESS has made it their mission to take her down. Feng is a member of Clan:LESS who has been forced to flee from China because of his ties to an online extremist group. He is a Uyghur who has been re-educated by the state into hating his own culture and being a Chinese nationalist. The two meet at school and become unlikely friends. So unlikely you might even call their relationship unbelievable. And it certainly is unreasonable.
While the themes of this story are strong and the setting is compelling, the writing is very poor. The story suffers from telling and not showing and the narration will often undercut potentially dramatic moments. The pacing does not work with each chapter ending feeling awkward. An odd choice of exposition and flashbacks being shown primarily through video (including lore YouTube videos) would work well as interludes but not shoved into the action. Bugz cousin is brought up a lot but is never seen in the story itself.
This is a sci-fi world, so an important element is worldbuilding. Bugz's parents are essentially in the same generation as the teen reader, their life was changed by Covid-19 hitting in their senior year of high school. After that, there were a few more pandemics. This has resulted in the rise of the Floraverse as a form of online escapism. Bugz school is still social distancing and people are still racist against Chinese people because of Covid. This makes the world feel incredibly relatable, it is a very believable future. As for flaws in this world, I find the decision to make the organic-based Floraverse operate on the famously eco-destructive blockchain a bad choice. We also only see 1 online community and despite the fact that all the characters are famous streamers Kinew seems to have no understanding of streaming. I was struggling to figure out if this was pro or anti online community.
Sexism is a huge theme of this story. Feng belongs to a sexist extremist group, but oddly he is not the one who goes on a character journey to correct his sexism. I thought this was a major failure of this book. Bugz has a lot of internalized misogyny and she thinks poorly of every woman she sees (except for sometimes her mom). She does this all while thinking of herself as a feminist (though that word is never used) or at least someone is opposition to sexism. Her negative thoughts about woman are mainly tied to her own body image issues, but this is never really resolved. Her character journey of learning to get past this is simply a vapid woman being nice to her once, we are not seen how this changed Bugz way of thinking though. Feng is never shown losing his sexism, in fact, the narrative barely treats him as a sexist instead he is just seen as being surrounded by bad influences. Some of the most egregious things Feng says aren’t even things I’m convinced that the narrative thinks is bad. Like the line: “You don’t think I’m fat?” “No, he said. “I think you’re amazing.” (p. 103).
As for the theme of grief. We primarily see this through Feng who is grieving his family/culture. He believes that his family betrayed him by refusing to give up their beliefs. Because of this, he sought comfort in an online extremist community. It is through his interactions with the Anishinaabe who have survived cultural genocide and are repairing their community that he realizes the full reality of what has been done to him. Bugz is grieving her brother who is terminally ill and will be gone soon. She responds by becoming self-destructive but is able to find healing through her culture instead. Ultimately the message is of healing through culture.
While the themes of this story are strong and the setting is compelling, the writing is very poor. The story suffers from telling and not showing and the narration will often undercut potentially dramatic moments. The pacing does not work with each chapter ending feeling awkward. An odd choice of exposition and flashbacks being shown primarily through video (including lore YouTube videos) would work well as interludes but not shoved into the action. Bugz cousin is brought up a lot but is never seen in the story itself.
This is a sci-fi world, so an important element is worldbuilding. Bugz's parents are essentially in the same generation as the teen reader, their life was changed by Covid-19 hitting in their senior year of high school. After that, there were a few more pandemics. This has resulted in the rise of the Floraverse as a form of online escapism. Bugz school is still social distancing and people are still racist against Chinese people because of Covid. This makes the world feel incredibly relatable, it is a very believable future. As for flaws in this world, I find the decision to make the organic-based Floraverse operate on the famously eco-destructive blockchain a bad choice. We also only see 1 online community and despite the fact that all the characters are famous streamers Kinew seems to have no understanding of streaming. I was struggling to figure out if this was pro or anti online community.
Sexism is a huge theme of this story. Feng belongs to a sexist extremist group, but oddly he is not the one who goes on a character journey to correct his sexism. I thought this was a major failure of this book. Bugz has a lot of internalized misogyny and she thinks poorly of every woman she sees (except for sometimes her mom). She does this all while thinking of herself as a feminist (though that word is never used) or at least someone is opposition to sexism. Her negative thoughts about woman are mainly tied to her own body image issues, but this is never really resolved. Her character journey of learning to get past this is simply a vapid woman being nice to her once, we are not seen how this changed Bugz way of thinking though. Feng is never shown losing his sexism, in fact, the narrative barely treats him as a sexist instead he is just seen as being surrounded by bad influences. Some of the most egregious things Feng says aren’t even things I’m convinced that the narrative thinks is bad. Like the line: “You don’t think I’m fat?” “No, he said. “I think you’re amazing.” (p. 103).
As for the theme of grief. We primarily see this through Feng who is grieving his family/culture. He believes that his family betrayed him by refusing to give up their beliefs. Because of this, he sought comfort in an online extremist community. It is through his interactions with the Anishinaabe who have survived cultural genocide and are repairing their community that he realizes the full reality of what has been done to him. Bugz is grieving her brother who is terminally ill and will be gone soon. She responds by becoming self-destructive but is able to find healing through her culture instead. Ultimately the message is of healing through culture.
February 15, 2022
I really did enjoy this book, there was just a few spots that really confused me.
I really enjoyed learning more about indigenous culture. This book really presented it in a relevant way that made it more interesting to younger readers.
The parts about the ‘verse’ sorta confused me and not going to lie, lost my interest.
The ending in my opinion…wasn’t great. There were at least 4 loose ends that needed to be tied up and maybe one was. If I’m not mistaken, this is a standalone and therefore should have a satisfying ending. Not an open ended one.
The time period also threw me off. I know it was set in the near future but still. The way it spoke about the pandemic made me a little confused.
Overall, I thought that this book was amazing for teaching young audiences about indigenous traditions, but a little disappointing at times.
I really enjoyed learning more about indigenous culture. This book really presented it in a relevant way that made it more interesting to younger readers.
The parts about the ‘verse’ sorta confused me and not going to lie, lost my interest.
The ending in my opinion…wasn’t great. There were at least 4 loose ends that needed to be tied up and maybe one was. If I’m not mistaken, this is a standalone and therefore should have a satisfying ending. Not an open ended one.
The time period also threw me off. I know it was set in the near future but still. The way it spoke about the pandemic made me a little confused.
Overall, I thought that this book was amazing for teaching young audiences about indigenous traditions, but a little disappointing at times.
May 30, 2023
This is a YA book about a young Native girl who is a gamer, in fact, an expert gamer. She is also a traditional Ojibwe/Anishinabe young girl who knows the songs, ceremonies and traditional stories of Ojibwe people. As far as I know, it is all very accurate. I learned a lot about what it means to be a gamer, I have no idea if that is accurate. This was a fun read and looking forward to the next in the series. Great characters and the parallel to a young man from China who fled because he was an Uyghur Muslim. He was forced to attend a re-education camp- very similar to boarding schools for natives in the US. His family was forced to send him to a re-education camp.
March 12, 2022
Published in September 2021, "Walking in Two Worlds," by Wab Kinew, is an own voices YA fantasy starring a Native American teenage girl who lives on a reservation in real life and is an amazing gamer in a futuristic Virtual Reality world called the Floraverse.
I *really* loved the first 90-ish pages of this novel. Kinew's prose and worldbuilding initially just blew me away. I loved the characters, the virtual reality game world, the antagonists, the Indigenous cultural details, and how the story flips so seamlessly between the real world, VR, and AR (augmented reality).
The opening of this book absolutely thrilled and delighted me.
And then on page 95, things began to go off the rails for me. My enjoyment dipped, dipped again, and eventually plummeted into a freefall. The train of this book just kept on wrecking itself, with increasingly spectacular collisions, right up until the very end.
I didn't think the book's many heavy themes were handled well at all. The second half of this novel is a giant rando spiral of increasingly traumatic events that led to the most non-ending ending, a final scene that left me feeling a mix of despair, revulsion, and rage.
In the beginning of the book, the author portrays his characters and plot realistically. By the end, the reader is so far away from anything remotely resembling reality that it just left my head spinning.
The fact that this book ends with the main character running off to "kill people" (kill enemy avatars) in the game world instead of finding the strength to get back to the hospital and be with her family and dying brother was just WTF level enraging.
There are so many good things in this book, so many components I loved. Feng's character arc, especially his final Spirit World-type revelation, was powerful. I hated Feng as a character, and I deeply hated the "love story" in this book, but the presence of a complicated, nuanced antagonist was certainly one of the things I loved in this book.
But the good parts didn't save the horrible stuff. And oh my, was there a lot of horrible stuff. A lot of unresolved, rando-trainwreck horrible stuff.
This was a great research read for gamer elements in fiction. But as a novel to be read outside of my own personal research interests, this book is a hard pass.
I'd personally give this book negative stars.
But I know this one just isn't for me. I'm not the right audience for this book.
Three stars.
I *really* loved the first 90-ish pages of this novel. Kinew's prose and worldbuilding initially just blew me away. I loved the characters, the virtual reality game world, the antagonists, the Indigenous cultural details, and how the story flips so seamlessly between the real world, VR, and AR (augmented reality).
The opening of this book absolutely thrilled and delighted me.
And then on page 95, things began to go off the rails for me. My enjoyment dipped, dipped again, and eventually plummeted into a freefall. The train of this book just kept on wrecking itself, with increasingly spectacular collisions, right up until the very end.
I didn't think the book's many heavy themes were handled well at all. The second half of this novel is a giant rando spiral of increasingly traumatic events that led to the most non-ending ending, a final scene that left me feeling a mix of despair, revulsion, and rage.
In the beginning of the book, the author portrays his characters and plot realistically. By the end, the reader is so far away from anything remotely resembling reality that it just left my head spinning.
The fact that this book ends with the main character running off to "kill people" (kill enemy avatars) in the game world instead of finding the strength to get back to the hospital and be with her family and dying brother was just WTF level enraging.
There are so many good things in this book, so many components I loved. Feng's character arc, especially his final Spirit World-type revelation, was powerful. I hated Feng as a character, and I deeply hated the "love story" in this book, but the presence of a complicated, nuanced antagonist was certainly one of the things I loved in this book.
But the good parts didn't save the horrible stuff. And oh my, was there a lot of horrible stuff. A lot of unresolved, rando-trainwreck horrible stuff.
This was a great research read for gamer elements in fiction. But as a novel to be read outside of my own personal research interests, this book is a hard pass.
I'd personally give this book negative stars.
But I know this one just isn't for me. I'm not the right audience for this book.
Three stars.
June 15, 2022
Read this book for school and it sucks 🧍♂️ everyone in the class agrees too lmao
The dialogue is choppy and very cringy especially with Bugz calling everyone ‘noobs’ or ‘losers’ all the time. You can tell it was written by a middle age man. No one talks like that. Bugz is very annoying especially reading her POV. Feng has the personality of a rock. I hated the minor romance between the two, it was super forced and just uncomfortable to read. We were reading it via audiobook and it’s read so slowly. The indigenous cultures in it are interesting to learn about but everything else makes me hate the book so much I’m sorry
I could write a five paragraph essay on why this book sucks.
The dialogue is choppy and very cringy especially with Bugz calling everyone ‘noobs’ or ‘losers’ all the time. You can tell it was written by a middle age man. No one talks like that. Bugz is very annoying especially reading her POV. Feng has the personality of a rock. I hated the minor romance between the two, it was super forced and just uncomfortable to read. We were reading it via audiobook and it’s read so slowly. The indigenous cultures in it are interesting to learn about but everything else makes me hate the book so much I’m sorry
I could write a five paragraph essay on why this book sucks.
April 4, 2022
This book is set in the future as an indigenous teen girl is caught between the real world and the virtual world where she is the best player. In the real world she’s very shy and self-conscious who face is a lot of stresses as a teenager however in the virtual world she is her alter ego completely confident dominant and strong.
Feng is a Chinese teenage boy who comes to live in the indigenous residence with his aunt who is a doctor on the Rez.
When these to meet in real life the mediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. Both face difficult challenges within their life and learn to trust each other throughout.
I think this is a really good story but it did not wow me. My absolute favourite part of the book as a whole is all the indigenous references, especially Anishinaabeg culture and language. I feel like I am always learning something new and this book was no exception. It is a great book for young readers to get an insight on indigenous culture and language even though it is set in the future. There are a lot of indigenous topics discussed including cultural genocide and the treatment of indigenous people in North America.
I think the ending was lacking. It was not super exciting and there are a lot of questions that were not answered by the end of the book. I just feel like they were gaps in the story and things were missing. It also felt like there was no general plot line. It was just two teenagers going through life and facing the different issues that popped up as they went. The characters felt a little underdeveloped and the romance line felt like it really didn’t need to be there at all. I didn’t have any feelings for the romance that was building between the characters and it just felt forced.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Feng is a Chinese teenage boy who comes to live in the indigenous residence with his aunt who is a doctor on the Rez.
When these to meet in real life the mediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. Both face difficult challenges within their life and learn to trust each other throughout.
I think this is a really good story but it did not wow me. My absolute favourite part of the book as a whole is all the indigenous references, especially Anishinaabeg culture and language. I feel like I am always learning something new and this book was no exception. It is a great book for young readers to get an insight on indigenous culture and language even though it is set in the future. There are a lot of indigenous topics discussed including cultural genocide and the treatment of indigenous people in North America.
I think the ending was lacking. It was not super exciting and there are a lot of questions that were not answered by the end of the book. I just feel like they were gaps in the story and things were missing. It also felt like there was no general plot line. It was just two teenagers going through life and facing the different issues that popped up as they went. The characters felt a little underdeveloped and the romance line felt like it really didn’t need to be there at all. I didn’t have any feelings for the romance that was building between the characters and it just felt forced.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 3, 2021
“That’s a lie. Everyone uses their phone to feel better about themselves.”
I'd like to thank Penguin Teen Canada for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: Mention of suicide, self harm, racist micro aggressions, fat phobia, terminal illness, sexism, bullying
Walking in Two Worlds was a quick and intriguing read. We follow both Bugz and Feng in their virtual and real lives. I enjoyed the virtual reality game aspect of the book and was excited to dive more into it. The descriptions of the game were interesting to read about and I loved that Bugz recreated aspects of her culture in the game. Unfortunately I didn't completely understand how the game world worked which was a bit confusing. I really enjoyed learning more about Bugz and her culture throughout the book, and it was one of my favourite aspects of it. Bugz deals with a lot throughout the course of the plot and you definitely root for her. The romance in this book also felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were longer, to give us more time to see the characters develop.
I'd like to thank Penguin Teen Canada for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: Mention of suicide, self harm, racist micro aggressions, fat phobia, terminal illness, sexism, bullying
Walking in Two Worlds was a quick and intriguing read. We follow both Bugz and Feng in their virtual and real lives. I enjoyed the virtual reality game aspect of the book and was excited to dive more into it. The descriptions of the game were interesting to read about and I loved that Bugz recreated aspects of her culture in the game. Unfortunately I didn't completely understand how the game world worked which was a bit confusing. I really enjoyed learning more about Bugz and her culture throughout the book, and it was one of my favourite aspects of it. Bugz deals with a lot throughout the course of the plot and you definitely root for her. The romance in this book also felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were longer, to give us more time to see the characters develop.
August 31, 2023
Read Harder Challenge 2023: Read a YA book by an Indigenous author.
I wanted to like this book. It features the fascinating mythologies of the Anishinaabe peoples set against the backdrop of an AR/VR videogame culture in the near future. The protagonist is an underdog with a hugely successful videogame persona (or 'versona, as they say in the book, referring to the Floraverse game played by all young people in this future). All very promising. For me though, there was too much telling rather than showing, and too much of the interaction between the characters just felt so... unrealistic. The best example of such a reality breaker for me was when I know as a YA book it has to be bound by certain limits of sensibilities, but this especially made me feel like the bad guy characters were a bit of an afterthought. As a vehicle to display many aspects of the culture and folklore of the Anishinaabe, this worked well. As a story in itself, I think it left a lot to be desired.
I wanted to like this book. It features the fascinating mythologies of the Anishinaabe peoples set against the backdrop of an AR/VR videogame culture in the near future. The protagonist is an underdog with a hugely successful videogame persona (or 'versona, as they say in the book, referring to the Floraverse game played by all young people in this future). All very promising. For me though, there was too much telling rather than showing, and too much of the interaction between the characters just felt so... unrealistic. The best example of such a reality breaker for me was when I know as a YA book it has to be bound by certain limits of sensibilities, but this especially made me feel like the bad guy characters were a bit of an afterthought. As a vehicle to display many aspects of the culture and folklore of the Anishinaabe, this worked well. As a story in itself, I think it left a lot to be desired.
November 25, 2021
"Suddenly, she felt something deeper than desire. A hunger came charging up from the depths and broke its way through to the surface. It was a drive to make things right, to settle unfinished business, to answer the call of destiny."
3.5 stars
There was so much to love here—especially the workings of the Floraverse and immersion into Indigenous culture. Also, I really appreciated the inclusion of periods, and how menstruation and culture intersected!
Unfortunately, I found the elements that I enjoyed were perhaps too strongly overshadowed by those I found lacking. I had a very difficult time with how Bugz's struggles with body image were handled. That is not to say that those struggles aren't valid (because they absolutely are), but the rhetoric reinforced throughout from several characters that one cannot be both fat and beautiful—that these two descriptors cannot exist simultaneously—was a strong, hard "nope" for me. There was a slight attempt at challenge this rhetoric near the end of the novel... but by then it was too little, too late.
November 22, 2022
This was an interesting sci-fi/fantasy/indigenous/teen fiction story. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the author being a middle aged man while writing a teenage girl character. I appreciated his attempts to support the idea of a girl as a hero, but sometimes it all felt a little forced.
The "chubby girl realizes she's beautiful all along" trope was annoyingly obvious. The ending felt rushed, and a little forced. I'm also not a huge fan of stories about cutting/suicidal thoughts - especially in books written for teens. I know they're important topics, but they have to be written very very well and this story fell a little short. The nods to the pandemic were a little jarring and I found myself thinking "toooo soooooon!" as I read.
Not sure how I managed it, but I thought I had put a library hold on a book by the author Waubgeshig Rice, and I was thoroughly confused by the writing style until I realized my mistake. 🤦 I really enjoyed Wab Kinew's biography earlier this year though.
The "chubby girl realizes she's beautiful all along" trope was annoyingly obvious. The ending felt rushed, and a little forced. I'm also not a huge fan of stories about cutting/suicidal thoughts - especially in books written for teens. I know they're important topics, but they have to be written very very well and this story fell a little short. The nods to the pandemic were a little jarring and I found myself thinking "toooo soooooon!" as I read.
Not sure how I managed it, but I thought I had put a library hold on a book by the author Waubgeshig Rice, and I was thoroughly confused by the writing style until I realized my mistake. 🤦 I really enjoyed Wab Kinew's biography earlier this year though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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