Sapphire's review: 27 Hours

I really enjoyed 27 Hours by Tristina Wright which is a young adult sci-fi fantasy book. The book contains lots of adventure as the teenage characters have to work together to stop a war between a group of rebellious chimera (gargoyles) and the army. The group of teenagers only have 27 hours to help stop this war and prevent the death of all the humans and chimera which don’t cooperate with the rebellious chimera called Reaper.

The book contains many LGBTQIA characters. Deaf character Nyx is pansexual and is in love with Dahlia who is a trans girl. 27 Hours shows how Nyx struggles with communication – she can only fully communicate with two of her friends, as they know American Sign Language (ASL). Because of her deafness, Nyx sometimes misses things other characters say. I enjoy how when in Nyx’s point of view the book doesn’t say what she missed. I also love how the author included in Nyx’s point of view how she hopes she is loud enough when speaking as she can not hear herself. Nyx also has hearing aids but doesn’t wear them all the time which shows how overstimulating hearing aids can be.

My favourite character is Breaden as he is a witty, funny, and sarcastic character who is fully accepting of Nyx’s deafness. For example, in the book when Nyx was hurt, the nurse looked to someone to translate for Nyx but Breaden kept quiet allowing Nyx independence, so she was able to speak for herself.

I also enjoy how the book didn’t make it seem as if Nyx’s deafness was a burden on others. Instead, it showed how her friends were more than willing to translate for her. There were also relatable scenes in the book between Nyx and characters who didn’t know sign or how to communicate with deaf people. For example, one character overenunciates their words making Nyx unable to lipread.

The book also includes a whirlwind romance between Jude and Rumour. They know each other just a few hours before quickly becoming extremely close. Jude is a complex character as he has special abilities. He doesn’t accept his powers at the beginning of the book, but he slowly begins to accept and even develop his powers with the help of his new friends.

To conclude I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys LGBTQ themes or sci-fi.