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readerette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
If you have some experience with Discworld or other works of Terry Pratchett, this book would certainly make more sense to you than it did to me. It was still a fun winter holiday read, but there was a lot of hand-waving about how the magic and magical creatures in this world work. I wouldn't have wanted the book any longer than it was, but I got lost in some of the attempted (and abbreviated) explanations of various powers and magical circumstances, so I had to do a lot of accepting and moving on. It would have been better for me to have fewer threads and more clarity on what was happening in each thread.
Moderate: Violence and Death
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Misogyny
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism
Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body shaming, Confinement, Drug use, Fatphobia, Torture, and Cursing
_al's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Sexism, and Vomit
bluejayreads's review against another edition
4.5
- There were Death and Albert trying to get the hang of delivering toys on Hogswatch night (and making some distinct social commentary about class and wealth disparity in the process).
- There was an absolutely off his rocker assassin doing … I’m not entirely sure what. Tooth fairies were involved. Somewhere in my disjointed reading experience I missed exactly what he was up to.
- There was Susan, who I actually quite enjoy now that she’s an adult. She is completely Fed Up With This Bullshit, and she may not be able to escape the supernatural nonsense but she can and will hit it with a fire poker. I hope she gets to be a bigger player in future Death books because adult Susan is fantastic.
- Then there were the wizards. The bounce in and out of the other characters’ stories, and they’re also doing their own stuff. There’s a bit of musing about the nature of belief and sentience – and also a couple computer programmer jokes – with Hex (Ponder Stibbons’ computer-like invention), and a very weird subplot about Archchancellor Ridcully’s new bathroom. I’ll be honest, I do not at all understand the point or purpose of the bathroom plot.
It’s entirely a coincidence that I picked up the holiday-themed Discworld book around the holidays, but it was fun. There were some musings on the nature of holidays and their traditions, what it means to believe and how belief affects the world, and how different the world looks through the eyes of children, plus mentions of holiday gift-giving as an illustration of wealth inequality and the ancient and significantly-less-cuddly roots of most treasured traditions. And if you wanted to call this book Death and his Granddaughter Susan Save (Discworld’s Version of) Christmas, that would also be valid.
Even reading it in fits and starts, making it unnecessarily confusing and at times hard to follow, this is probably my favorite Death book so far. I can only imagine how much more I would have liked it if I’d been able to read it straight through like normal. I’m really hoping the rest of the Death sub-series is like this, because I had a remarkably good time with this book.
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Ableism and Death of parent
Unrealitynialiversuch's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death
jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death
miriam_mal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Minor: Death and Animal death
ladythana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Death
ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture