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lucille162024's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder
morganj'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
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, and Murder
bean_7088's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Narrator was mostly good, but I could her her swallowing her spit a lot mer the end which was not super pleasant.
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Racism
agatha_hopkins's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement
kibbles15'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, and Murder
Minor: Racism and Sexism
gracierose0108'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
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Blood, and Murder
mysana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Racism and Violence
agoldendear'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? Yes
3.0
First, the fact that this was meant for children warps the content of the book, in a way. Everything was incredibly innocent, save for vague mentions of swearing and sexy photos belonging to the sailors. There was basically no blatant racism or sexism (aside from what a bad guy says), despite this book taking place on a ship filled with men in the 19th century. Depending on who you are, this might be a good thing or seen as weirdly unrealistic.
The protagonist was fitting for the book's target audience, being a thirteen year old girl. Charlotte Doyle is a naive girl from a wealthy family who has always been taught to respect authority and follow rules. Based on this, she was very stressful to read about for a lot of this book. You learn right away that bad things are brewing on the ship she's traveling on, and I was so concerned that she would end up exacerbating it. It makes sense that she would act this way though, based on her upbringing. Therefore, I can't fault the character of Charlotte for always acting in a way that fit her. It was nice to see her eventually grow as the novel went on.
Another weird thing was the pacing of the book. It says right on the back in big letters that Charlotte will be framed for murder, but that doesn't even happen until the last quarter of the book. I was thinking that would be a bigger thing throughout the whole novel. The book also started out very slowly. It took nearly half the book to get to the actually interesting stuff.
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Torture
Minor: Racism
The heavy sexism only really comes into play in the last quarter of the book.