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pj99'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, and Classism
euhfubeuh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
edmund_pearce's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, and Dementia
Moderate: Genocide 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, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Kidnapping
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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Medical content, and Abandonment
prerazmisljavanje's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, and Deportation
Lik se smuva s bivšom devojkom svog dede. Okilariasbizzera'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: Genocide, Mental illness, Blood, Antisemitism, and War
maca_vr's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, and War
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Cannibalism
Minor: Genocide and Gaslighting
charley_books'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? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, and War
merah'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? Yes
4.75
The characters are delightful and I love how they each have a backstory.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Stalking, and Abandonment
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