Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Little Foxes Took Up Matches by Katya Kazbek

4 reviews

yuyuv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Antisemitism

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ka_cam's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Great first 3/4, interesting characters and setting. Well written, great use of an omniscient narrator alongside a youthful main character's voice. Thoughtful portrayal of coming into complex gender and sexual identities.  Lost steam towards the end and sort of meandered to the conclusion. All and all would recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Murder

marywahlmeierbracciano's review

challenging funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Little Foxes Took Up Matches is a queer coming-of-age story set in late 90s Moscow and narrated by Mitya—a beautiful, observant, genderqueer boy.  Amidst a dysfunctional family, Mitya admires his resourceful babushka and tries to avoid his predatory, wartorn cousin.  In the process of avenging the death of his friend, a kind homeless man who accepted Mitya’s queerness, Mitya befriends an older Ukrainian girl, and the pair comes to know Moscow and themselves by way of the underground music scene.  Despite many difficult obstacles, Mitya is incredibly resilient and spirited—one of the most memorable characters I’ve read in a long time.  With folklore as its guiding light—Mitya’s chronicle of self-discovery is paralleled by an interluding fairytale—this character-driven novel is ultimately a queer love story, a love letter to queer youth.  Jefferson Mays’ narration is a perfect complement.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

rachel_from_avid_bookshop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

You will come to love sweet Mitka, the eleven year old Russian protagoist in Little Foxes Took Up Matches who is figuring out life in post-Soviet Moscow. Whether dressing in his mother's clothes or making art out of lamb bones, trying to solve a murder or ruminating on the sewing needle he swallowed as a child, Mitka marches to a different beat than his small family and he yearns to be seen and find his people. Mitka's story is told in between a retelling of a Russian fairytale, Koschei the Deathless, which mirrors some of Mitka's circumstances. Kazbek has written a beautiful gender-fluid character whose brutal honesty regarding people and their actions will smack you across the face.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, and Murder