Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

3 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I first read this book when I was a teenager, and I rated it 5 stars at that time. I value the book for what it gave to me at the time, feeling seen for having experiences like wondering who I truly am and wondering who would ever understand me. Plus, there's fulfillment of the teenage girl urge to have a magical world where you're all powerful for good measure. This book is, in a lot of ways, an aged up spiritual successor to The Secret Garden. 

Reading this as an adult, there are parts that I'm not so enamored with, hence the lower rating. The friendship between the main characters strikes me as much more toxic than it did when I was a teenager, especially since Pippa and Felicity never apologize for tormenting Ann. I also find it hard to root for Kartik to be with Gemma, since Gemma keeps implying threats that she will get him arrested, which, at that time period, would basically be a death threat. That being said, I still really like Ms. Moore as a character. 

I look forward to my re-read of the rest of the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Neglect, Antiziganism, Seizures

celery's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

danibanani's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I read this as a tween and loved it for the drama, the descriptions, the magic. I don't think it quite holds up, and not just for some of the problematic elements. I would love for things to make a bit more sense. Gemma should have put certain things together far earlier than she did given how intelligent we know her to be. What a melancholy ending this had! It really communicated the desperation of young women within the choking confines of patriarchy, thank gods that's not a problem anymore. 🫣😭
Despite its shortcomings, I was compelled to finish the reread, and mostly enjoyed it. Huzzah!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Self harm, and Sexual harassment