bookishbutterfly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: War
micaelamariem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Violence, and War
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The story focuses on a teen who is brought up in Florida and who has a close relationship with his Jewish grandfather who survived WWII. The man tells him fanciful stories and and shows him photographs of a children's home where he was raised with kids with special powers. The photographs look fake and a bit dodgy, so nobody believes his stories of special powers and monsters, assuming that they are the mentally divergent accommodations of a traumatised holocaust survivor. As the old man gets increasingly paranoid and the family are considering putting him in a care facility, his grandson goes to check on him, only to find that one of the monsters has got him.
Once his therapist okays the trip, he follows a set of clues in his grandfather's last words, and he travels with his father to a remote island in the UK where his father wishes to observe the local birdlife. There he puts together a puzzle that brings him into contact with people his grandfather once knew, and entangles him in further adventure.
Being set in Florida I notice that there is quite a bit of narrative about the treatment of the elderly. There is a focus on listening to the opinions of older people, and the ways that they are treated in society (there are a lot of rest homes and retirees in Florida, so this follows). I also encountered the term "lenai" for the first time. Intuiting that it was a type of verandah, I looked it up and realised that this common feature of houses in tropical climes was not unknown to me.. my Uncle has one similar to the pictures that I see in an internet web-search, and he lives in Australia.
The story is interesting, deals with alternate timelines and portals, and has a little bit of teen kissing, secret monsters, shape changers, levitating and snorkelling, and some stuff with common or garden necromancy, scary monsters, and sheep poo. This is the first part of a bigger story so it's not surprising that the end of it is a bit of a cliffhanger. I'd like to know what happens next.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Gore
Minor: Kidnapping
kibberbl's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Mental illness, Child death, War, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Excrement
Minor: Ableism, Suicide, and Fatphobia
vanesst's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Murder
Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, War, Alcohol, Antisemitism, and Blood
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, War, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Grief, Antisemitism, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse and Bullying
allbookedupwithrosie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
After seeing the tale unfold before his eyes on one unfortunate night, Jacob starts to wonder if the tales his grandfather had told as a child were truly true.
Tag along alone on a adventure to the island where you will meet some very friendly peculiars and unravel a past that Jacob has never dreamed of knowing.
Thoroughly enjoyed the characters and their peculiarities. Reminded me muchly of Percy and the Olympians and the adventure of discovering who Jacob is.
Being honest, I saw the movie years ago and fell in love with seeing the characters come to life on the screen. The book however gave me a deeper understanding of the past and characteristics of the characters.
Moderate: War, Violence, and Death
spookily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: War, Grief, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Genocide
Minor: Abandonment, Child death, Drug use, Medical content, and Infidelity
ilariasbizzera's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: War, Antisemitism, Genocide, Mental illness, and Blood
readin_slump's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: War