Reviews with content warning for War - La dernière bataille

The reason I read this book was because of the opening pages, depicting a relationship between a narcissist (monkey) and his henchman (a donkey). I wanted to know how that played out; what the donkey learned; whether he withstood the persuasions of someone who wasn't a friend at all...but none of that was delivered in the book.
(Eventually I kept reading because I also wanted to know if the animals discovered the monkey's ruse of pretending Aslan had returned.)
But overall, pfff. A strange monotheistic tale of the glory of death, what a curious religion Christianity is!
Also, who could fail to notice the Calormenes are all "dark" (as well as evil)...

Content Warnings

abitterknitter's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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? No

3.0

Content Warnings

emmacb's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

Re-reading this series has been eye opening, as I knew there was racism and sexism and heavy Christian imagery among other old-school viewpoints that do not stand up today (and shouldn't have at the time either!), but reading it and noticing those moments myself was different from knowing it in the abstract.

In general, my view of the series was that I wouldnt encourage, but would let my (future) kids read them if they chose but with a lot of conversation around the themes. This one however, I would actively discourage.

Very racist (brown face, calling people d*rkie a LOT, stereotypes galore), and some seriously questionable Christian religious imperialism

(I.e. the 'good' calormenes were actually worshiping Aslan all along they just thought it was Tash, who is actually bad because surely no other religion could have a good deity/people 😖

Content Warnings

bgick's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lizziaha's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

It’s been said before but truly I could not focus on anything except the BLATANT racism in this book, ft. our beloved heroes doing blackface, “darkies” (lewis’s word, not mine) worshipping a god that is revealed to be a demon, and an evil ape (really the racist symbolism is so transparent) creating a fake Aslan for his own gain. I see what c.s. lewis is doing, and it infuriates me. As someone who was raised Christian, i found the rhetoric in this book deeply distasteful. Being intimately familiar with Christian beliefs, i just can’t stop thinking about how this book could be so much better. The ending felt like the biggest cop out ever,

the end of the world of narnia

felt rushed and also i felt like it wasn’t a true representation of biblical end times. And don’t even get me started on Susan 😤

Content Warnings

fragrant_stars's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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? No

4.0

Definitely a darker tone than the earlier books... as an adult, it's a little uncomfortable to read the racism and xenophobia in these books-- I don't believe CS Lewis had any malicious intent when he wrote these tropes, but.. you know. Still uncomfortable. All in all though, I think it was a decent wrapup to the Narnia series, and I'm happy I was able to enjoy these books as a young child.

BTW Susan didn't enter Aslan's kingdom in the end because she was.... you know..... still alive......... Smartassery aside it's very clear in-text that Susan doesn't go to Aslan's kingdom because she doesn't really want to go. She doesn't even believe it exists. She's so obsessed with being a part of the Grown Up Club that she's too proud to believe in fairytales. It's not about the lipsticks nylons and boys. CS Lewis himself says that he thinks that it's not too late for Susan to grow up and realise it's okay to indulge in "silly" and "childish" things and come back to Narnia again someday.

Content Warnings

author2223's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

More...