notpercyjacksonyet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
heatherjchin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, and Gun violence
gbookly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
calamitywindpetal's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
Minor: Grief, Racism, and Death
displacedcactus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
This is a lovely book about friendship and family and how far we'll go to help the people we love. It's also about climate change and social media and has elements of a coming of age story.
A Snake Falls to Earth has a lot going for it -- casual ace representation, characters of various races and gender identities, found family, magic, adventure... It's a YA book with teenage characters, but it avoids some of the YA tropes that can turn off adult readers. There's no love triangles, and the adults actually believe the teenagers when they're told what's going on.
Over all, I feel like this book is pretty appropriate for most ages. More advanced middle grade readers could probably handle it too. There's no gore and the moments of peril aren't too scary. No sexual content and the language was pretty mild. Parents may want to read first before giving the book to particularly sensitive young readers, but I feel like I definitely would have enjoyed reading this when I was a kid.
A Snake Falls to Earth has a lot going for it -- casual ace representation, characters of various races and gender identities, found family, magic, adventure... It's a YA book with teenage characters, but it avoids some of the YA tropes that can turn off adult readers. There's no love triangles, and the adults actually believe the teenagers when they're told what's going on.
Over all, I feel like this book is pretty appropriate for most ages. More advanced middle grade readers could probably handle it too. There's no gore and the moments of peril aren't too scary. No sexual content and the language was pretty mild. Parents may want to read first before giving the book to particularly sensitive young readers, but I feel like I definitely would have enjoyed reading this when I was a kid.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
Hurricanes and tornadoes are a major plot element of this book.jessthanthree's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Blood
Minor: Death, Animal death, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The worldbuilding is wonderful, explaining a lot of things without feeling like it’s infodumping. Oli has a lot of fascinating anecdotes and animal facts, while Nina tends to provide more of the details about environmental concerns on Earth, though that rough division blurs later on. It did throw me a little that Oli’s sections are narrated in first person and Nina’s are narrated in third, since they’re both crucial for the story.
I like the audiobook narrators, they did a good job overall. The story starts slowly, spending a long time with both main characters before they meet late in the book. Oli leaves home and meets the people who become his friends, then goes through a lot to help them. Nina is worried about her home on both a local and global level, and is growing in her awareness of how she can take action to protect it in big and small ways. The pacing feels deliberate, treating their meeting as an important thing that happens, but not a goal. They have lives before and after their brief intersection.
I like the audiobook narrators, they did a good job overall. The story starts slowly, spending a long time with both main characters before they meet late in the book. Oli leaves home and meets the people who become his friends, then goes through a lot to help them. Nina is worried about her home on both a local and global level, and is growing in her awareness of how she can take action to protect it in big and small ways. The pacing feels deliberate, treating their meeting as an important thing that happens, but not a goal. They have lives before and after their brief intersection.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Bullying
Minor: Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Genocide
purplelake's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Another triumph from Darcie Little Badger. Delightful characters, ace rep, Lipan stories, found family. A must-read for anyone from 13 to 153.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Violence, Death, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, War, Vomit, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Genocide
racheloddment's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-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? Yes
4.5
'A Snake Falls to Earth' by Darcie Little Badger is a heartfelt story about a Lipan Apache girl and a Cottonmouth boy whose paths cross after a disaster on Earth brings tragedy to the Cottonmouth boy's world.
Nina has been listening to her grandmother's stories for years, hoping to one day encounter the animal people that populate her family tales. Oli, a cottonmouth boy, enjoys making new friends and adventuring through his world. But one day, one of his friends becomes sick and it appears that the only way to save him is to travel to Earth to save his species. But Earth has creatures that are out to get those from Oli's world and when he encounters Nina, he brings her into a wider plot that could impact them both.
Darcie Little Badger hits it out of the park with her sophomore novel. Just like with her debut, Elatsoe, this novel has so much heart and touts the importance of family and community. Oli's relationship with his friends was one of my favorite parts of this story. There is such clear care for one another and they go out of their way to support each other.
The story structure works incredibly well. By shifting between the two narratives and providing some of each character's every day life, we come to care deeply for Nina and Oli before they ever meet. This was aided by two great voice acting performances in the audiobook.
Darcie Little Badger is an auto-read author for me and this cemented that. If you enjoyed Elatsoe, you need to read this book and if you haven't had the opportunity to read her work yet, 'A Snake Falls to Earth' is a great introduction to the heart, great characters, and engaging plot that fill her worlds.
Nina has been listening to her grandmother's stories for years, hoping to one day encounter the animal people that populate her family tales. Oli, a cottonmouth boy, enjoys making new friends and adventuring through his world. But one day, one of his friends becomes sick and it appears that the only way to save him is to travel to Earth to save his species. But Earth has creatures that are out to get those from Oli's world and when he encounters Nina, he brings her into a wider plot that could impact them both.
Darcie Little Badger hits it out of the park with her sophomore novel. Just like with her debut, Elatsoe, this novel has so much heart and touts the importance of family and community. Oli's relationship with his friends was one of my favorite parts of this story. There is such clear care for one another and they go out of their way to support each other.
The story structure works incredibly well. By shifting between the two narratives and providing some of each character's every day life, we come to care deeply for Nina and Oli before they ever meet. This was aided by two great voice acting performances in the audiobook.
Darcie Little Badger is an auto-read author for me and this cemented that. If you enjoyed Elatsoe, you need to read this book and if you haven't had the opportunity to read her work yet, 'A Snake Falls to Earth' is a great introduction to the heart, great characters, and engaging plot that fill her worlds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty