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madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Sexism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Confinement, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Racism and Injury/Injury detail
sleepy_panda1'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Violence
valpyre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i personally vibed with this book -- it was fantastical and nonsensical enough without being actually unreasonable, if that makes sense. something about it just grabbed my attention and held it there.
i will say i wouldn't go as far as to recommend this book though -- it gets really tiring hearing about how Evil people are different, and ugly, and lonely, etc. as opposed to Good people (especially with the enforced gender roles) are beautiful, and only they can have/deserve love. i honestly think this book could have unpacked and subverted those notions more -- we only really saw those rules fall apart in the climax.
im interested to see how comphet this series will turn out cause if romance will fix these characters problems, i feel like there is a simple queer solution lol. also aren't all the characters like 12-ish? some of the content was reeaaal weird (lookin at you school master)
Moderate: Violence
_alyssar_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
kim_lommaert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death of parent
jenna36's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, and Violence
kaziaroo'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? Yes
3.5
It's a shame to see that children's stories still rely on fatphobia and making fun of "ugly" people for humour, and there was a lot of stereotyping of what "good" and "evil" people look like – although a lot of this is critiqued by the narrative, there were some blurred lines: for example, while we are shown that being mean to Dot about her fatness is bad, the author also mentions her size nearly every time she appears, and her size and appetite makes up most of her characterisation. Thankfully, there wasn't a hooked nose in sight, unlike in the film.
While the plot dragged a bit in places, I really enjoyed the characters in this book and loved the portrayal of a character's descent into madness and the protagonists' respective identity crises. It was a really fun, if dark, read.
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness
neko_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ok so mixed feelings here. on one side i hated it, sophie was pretty much unbearable but on the other side I thoroughly enjoyed it. the world is just amazing, and while sophie is definitely not my favourite character, especially at the start of the book, I do love her development at the end.
now the characters I do like. hester, anadil and dot. i love them so much. the fact that they are the figure of evil for the start of the book, but there is so much good in their hearts and I love them.
agatha is one of my favourite characters in this book. her development, insecurities and personality is amazing
overall a pretty good read!
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia, Blood, and Death of parent
saskiajva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War