Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

35 reviews

leofro's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Fatphobia

midgereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is such a good book. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s scary, funny, and really easy to get through. It was impossible to put it down. I hope the Netflix series does it justice (I know it was cancelled after the first season, which I’m really mad about).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, and Murder

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and Suicide

iladevlin28's review

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Child death

Minor: Child abuse

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

What i enjoyed: the mystery is tied into the plot quite nicely and the transitions flow very smoothly, making it easy to want to keep reading and play along with the characters. Twists and surprises aren't jarring and can be figured out, but its still subtle enough to be enjoyed.
What I didn't enjoy: the characters didn't always seem like real people and it's a bit obvious that Lockwood is supposed to be like Sherlock Holmes. Despite the set up for the setting and age of characters it wasn't quite played right to feel like it was actually an alternative world where children were the heroes. Some events that should have had consequences didn't and vice versa. One major thing that granted on me the more it kept happening was how one main character has different strengths and weaknesses than the other 2, but is always described as incompetent and fat and it's outright stated as well as implied that him being fat is part of why he's incompetent and inferior to his peers. The other characters get plenty of descriptors and traits, but all he gets is various ways of saying he's fat and inferior. 
Overall though, it was an enjoyable read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Murder, Body shaming, Classism, Fatphobia, Death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, and Sexism

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Animal death, Medical trauma, Body horror, Bullying, Colonisation, Grief, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, and Physical abuse

rkreads's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

starlitpage's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Gore, Suicide, and Child death

drips's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

keeping the changes they made for the netflix series in mind makes it a better read (no way they are 12-14 lmfao + the mean spirited descriptions of george as basically being a fatty and the villains having hooked noses are not very enjoyable) since the show got cancelled i'll have to find out the rest of the plot like this ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Death

cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This would be a 4 stars if Lockwood and Lucy weren't so mean to George. I swear that every time George said something funny or did something smart it was undercut in the next paragraph by Lucy calling him fat or stupid or generally unpleasant, and even Lockwood joined in far too often for my taste. 
If you disregard the fatphobia, this book was actually very funny and exciting. While the plot sagged a bit in the middle, it wasn't unpleasant, and the action near the end was so tense and fun that I didn't want to put the book down. 
Unsure if I'll continue the series, but I'll definitely be watching the Netflix show. At least there George gets a break. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Death

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

the_ash37's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail