radianorflin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
claerey's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-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? No
3.0
legs_n_chins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Coming back to this book as an adult, having adored it in my teens, definitely gave me a new perspective, but didn’t dim any of the things I enjoyed. The writing style was easy to read, though I found the rule of “said is dead” was adhered to a little too strictly and made for some odd dialogue. Some of the things I glazed over as a kid stood out more starkly, too, certain phrases that just sounded awkward or clunky. Overall, though, I was still immersed in the story and these basic writing craft things were easy to overlook.
The world building was and continues to be the thing that fully engages me in this. The monsters Wooding makes up and the version of Victorian London that they inhabit I think are incredibly creative. I find it very consistent, as well, nothing jumped out as being something the author just threw in for an aesthetic. The things he put into the world all appeared to have a purpose, making it seem very grounded and believable. The magic system also feels very straightforward and I personally have never noticed any glaring holes or overpowered spells.
I’ll leave this one down to nostalgia, maybe, but the characters and their relationships I found very endearing. I say it’s nostalgia because if I go back and honestly think about it, I’d say the characters might lack some depth and their arcs are also fairly shallow. I’m willing to write off some of that as this plot all occurring over a pretty short timescale, and the book being a YA, plot-driven narrative, but there could’ve been more richness to the characters all the same. That said, again, I still love all of them and — even if the love story was a bit half-baked — the relationships were all solid to me. Goddamnit, but no matter how out of place the romance is, I am absolutely still rooting for the main characters and I think they are deeply in love and will be together forever and they still make my heart melt.
As for the plot, deeply engrossing and thrilling for me. I love the multiple POVs and I think Wooding works with dramatic irony very effectively. The mystery elements of the story are revealed to the reader fairly quickly, I think, but I love how all the pieces are put together by the different players in the book. Though we, the audience, already know, it’s still exciting to see one set of characters learn something from another character that gives them answers they’ve been seeking for a little while. The roles each of the characters has in the plot really tie together well at the end and it’s satisfying to see how it all comes to a head when they’ve finally met and gotten all the pieces of the puzzle in place. I find the tension is consistent throughout and builds at a steady enough place that there’s always somewhere to go and the climax feels like an appropriate culmination. The horror elements that scared the crap out of me as a kid still hold up as an adult, though the fear has dulled. And the last line of the book still makes me smile and giggle gleefully.
The world building was and continues to be the thing that fully engages me in this. The monsters Wooding makes up and the version of Victorian London that they inhabit I think are incredibly creative. I find it very consistent, as well, nothing jumped out as being something the author just threw in for an aesthetic. The things he put into the world all appeared to have a purpose, making it seem very grounded and believable. The magic system also feels very straightforward and I personally have never noticed any glaring holes or overpowered spells.
I’ll leave this one down to nostalgia, maybe, but the characters and their relationships I found very endearing. I say it’s nostalgia because if I go back and honestly think about it, I’d say the characters might lack some depth and their arcs are also fairly shallow. I’m willing to write off some of that as this plot all occurring over a pretty short timescale, and the book being a YA, plot-driven narrative, but there could’ve been more richness to the characters all the same. That said, again, I still love all of them and — even if the love story was a bit half-baked — the relationships were all solid to me. Goddamnit, but no matter how out of place the romance is, I am absolutely still rooting for the main characters and I think they are deeply in love and will be together forever and they still make my heart melt.
As for the plot, deeply engrossing and thrilling for me. I love the multiple POVs and I think Wooding works with dramatic irony very effectively. The mystery elements of the story are revealed to the reader fairly quickly, I think, but I love how all the pieces are put together by the different players in the book. Though we, the audience, already know, it’s still exciting to see one set of characters learn something from another character that gives them answers they’ve been seeking for a little while. The roles each of the characters has in the plot really tie together well at the end and it’s satisfying to see how it all comes to a head when they’ve finally met and gotten all the pieces of the puzzle in place. I find the tension is consistent throughout and builds at a steady enough place that there’s always somewhere to go and the climax feels like an appropriate culmination. The horror elements that scared the crap out of me as a kid still hold up as an adult, though the fear has dulled. And the last line of the book still makes me smile and giggle gleefully.
jhoffmann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
raspberrylemonade's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. It has a fun creepy premise and the plot is suspenseful but the characters just had no depth and nothing to make them meaningful or relatable. The main characters are just not that interesting - they seem like they SHOULD be, but then we never see enough of their internal thoughts or anything to really make them unique. No one ever acts in a way other than exactly how we would expect based on their character, and every character could essentially be described in one sentence (and in the whole book we never go deeper than that).
The supernatural monsters are really really creepy and very well described - definitely the best part of the book. The human villains are…as flat and boring as the human heroes.
I read this book when I was maybe 11 or 12 and I remembered being really creeped out, but I didn’t remember anything else about it so I picked it up again hoping for a fun Halloween read. It’s definitely an easy read and the plot moves along quickly and engagingly but I would necessarily recommend it.
The supernatural monsters are really really creepy and very well described - definitely the best part of the book. The human villains are…as flat and boring as the human heroes.
I read this book when I was maybe 11 or 12 and I remembered being really creeped out, but I didn’t remember anything else about it so I picked it up again hoping for a fun Halloween read. It’s definitely an easy read and the plot moves along quickly and engagingly but I would necessarily recommend it.
rollforalex's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
3.75
lizpatanders's review against another edition
4.0
I have to say that up until the last few chapters of this book, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I thought that the author tied this book together really well at the end.
The whole story is set in Victorian London and has a very Gothic mood and feel to it. At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't sure how all of the individual story lines would tie together, but the author pulled it together quite well. Also, I didn't get a sense of infeasibility as I read. It really made sense to me when I tried to visualize the action scenes. Furthermore, I thought Wooding's explanation of the wych-kin and how they came to be was interesting, creative and logical all at once, because it drew on aspects of facts we know as humans and more fantasy like qualities.
As for my complaints about this book, it felt like the author saw things as very black and white, and I think I would have liked to see more depth in that respect. There were also some parts of the book or lines characters said which felt a bit sappy. Furthermore, the author would sometimes choose to structure his sentences in a way that I felt was meant to sound pretentious, but just wound up being awkward. It felt kind of over the top and out of place at times--the imagey helped me visualize what was happening, and I liked that, I just thought how it was written didn't entirely fit somehow.
I would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy or novels with a Gothic feel to them.
The whole story is set in Victorian London and has a very Gothic mood and feel to it. At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't sure how all of the individual story lines would tie together, but the author pulled it together quite well. Also, I didn't get a sense of infeasibility as I read. It really made sense to me when I tried to visualize the action scenes. Furthermore, I thought Wooding's explanation of the wych-kin and how they came to be was interesting, creative and logical all at once, because it drew on aspects of facts we know as humans and more fantasy like qualities.
As for my complaints about this book, it felt like the author saw things as very black and white, and I think I would have liked to see more depth in that respect. There were also some parts of the book or lines characters said which felt a bit sappy. Furthermore, the author would sometimes choose to structure his sentences in a way that I felt was meant to sound pretentious, but just wound up being awkward. It felt kind of over the top and out of place at times--the imagey helped me visualize what was happening, and I liked that, I just thought how it was written didn't entirely fit somehow.
I would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy or novels with a Gothic feel to them.
booksforsceeeeee's review against another edition
3.0
Like a combination of the Alienist and the City of Bones