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booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As a narrator, Captain John Wyndham is torn between fascination with Shaharazad's hedonism and a need to maintain his own sense of propriety. He grew up in a strictly religious environment, implicitly having chosen to live away from home due to some degree of transphobia which he never quite describes. I like how his words convey so much of his personality along with Shaharazad, making his paraphrases of her language quite clear and not just pretending she has more decorum than she does. He also makes reference to the serial release of this story's chapters, discussions with his editor, and the fact that he's writing this several decades after the events. Instead of just infodumping, he flags any particularly dense descriptions as skippable for a reader who is already familiar with the setting and recent history, at once providing guidance for readers who dislike dense descriptions, and also deepening the sense of immersion by making the reader party to the world.
Things I love, in no particular order: The clever use of parts of Dracula; the resolution to Eirene Viola's problem; the way Wyndham keeps so tightly to propriety even when it's comically unsuitable to the situation; the narrative style, Shaharazad's bravado and continual attempts to plan as little as possible and still have things work out well enough.
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and War
aj_langley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Toxic friendship
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Abandonment
demongrrl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Drug use
Minor: Religious bigotry
ladythana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail
purplepenning's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
vickybuka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Religious bigotry