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clarabooksit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
fictionaladventures's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Ahh this was so good! A friend raved about it for a couple years before I finally got to it, and I’m so glad I did! It was such a beautiful fairytale, so whimsical and stunningly written. I shipped Clara and O’Neill so hard IMMEDIATELY. It was slower paced than I expected for such a short book, but still beautiful in the slower bits. I can’t recommend this enough if you love fairytales, mermaids, or dragons! (Osbert is the best dragon ever!!!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Animal death
vanadiumbean's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
A book I wanted to like, but which ultimately disappointed me. On a technical level, I felt like parts of the resolution and moments where backstory is revealed were awkwardly placed and under-utilized. I also felt like the theme of wishing versus taking action was poorly developed and and awkwardly alluded to by having things the main character was wishing for tacked in at the end of chapters, like, we get it. The dialogue was also a little clunky and lackluster.
On a content-based note, I hated that the author solely referred to rromani people using a racial slur, and exotified them. There's also a weird thread of the MC being fixated on manners and being a good proper girl as well as on modesty that felt more like it came from the author than from being a character detail. Finally, minor spoilers here, I hated that 2 out of the 3 main antagonists in the final half of the book are people of color. The villains being an abusive white man with a traveling side show and his subservient Indian wife and son. His family is exoticised. His son is murderous and regularly makes sexually charged comments to the MC. It's racist and it sucks!
On a content-based note, I hated that the author solely referred to rromani people using a racial slur, and exotified them. There's also a weird thread of the MC being fixated on manners and being a good proper girl as well as on modesty that felt more like it came from the author than from being a character detail. Finally, minor spoilers here,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
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