Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

23 reviews

simareading's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and War

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

Pretty good. The plot of a boy genius excelling beyond his peers and adults, and then saving the world but feeling alone while doing so reads as very much wish fulfillment for middle schoolers who think they're brilliant and have trouble making friends. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not at that point anymore,  and it makes certain sections a bit laughable. The best section is by far the last two chapters, with the bugger queen and the characters' healing. It has, as all half decent dystopian books should, a pretty strong anti-war sentiment, which I enjoy even if the supergenius child soldiers is a bit of a stretch. I'm not especially pressed to read the rest of the series, but it was a nice little jaunt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Suicide, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Classism

isaznz's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Does not pass the Bechdel test 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

blushingbearsandbees's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

mattyvreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

One of the finest science fiction books I have ever read. I devoured every word.

A timeless and yet surprisingly current exposé of human nature, the internal battle of good and evil, and the decisions we make that affect our life’s course.

The writing itself is beautiful. Not flowery, not pretentious. Straightforward and unassuming. The dialogue is reflective of how people really talk to each other. 

The book brilliantly discusses childhood, loss of innocence, colonization, exploitation, and how man justifies war. It is a work of art.

One of my favorite quotes, though there were many: “He could see Bonzo’s anger growing hot. Hot anger was bad. Ender’s anger was cold, so he could use it. Bonzo’s anger was hot, so it used him.”

The book is rich with plot twists and intrigue. I cannot recommend it enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Violence, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Bullying and Forced institutionalization

miastr's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

tomel's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

1.5

The best thing I can say about Ender's Game is that it is bad in fascinating ways. There are so many intersections of awful in this book that I will probably never stop thinking about it. But it is an extremely bad book about how

a group of naked racist/misogynist children (plus one tomboy) are trained by the Eugenically Perfect War Messiah to commit a genocide but it's okay because they're going to adopt the new generation of the people they killed and raise them as their own.

Imagine if Paul Atreides was really into laser tag and felt the White Man's Burden and gave himself the occasional n-word pass. I strongly suspect that the book must have been significantly changed since the 1991 edition I read, because there's stuff in here that should be at least as notorious as the scene in the sewer in IT and nobody talks about them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Cultural appropriation

For some reason nobody talks about how the children in this book are constantly naked.

veronica4242's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

fmr37's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Colonisation

fi_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail