purplepenning's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Classism, Alcohol, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
rosecoloredbooks's review
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Child death
bujo_bellel'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Grief, and Violence
Minor: War and Death of parent
vigil's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Grief, Injury/injury detail, Miscarriage , Pregnancy, Death, Blood, Child death, and Violence
rhm04's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Child death, Gore, Death, Miscarriage , and Violence
Moderate: Injury/injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
kirstenf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Grief
Minor: Blood
eatingbrains's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
While I agree that the premise is reminiscent of the movie Spirited Away and Uprooted by Naomi Novik (two things I enjoyed thoroughly), it was very much written for a YA audience. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the main difference between YA classics and contemporary YA is that the classics are written to be understood by younger audiences but will still have a broader appeal.
At the end of the day, this one missed that mark for me. It was very much full of emo, cringey moments, insta-lovey when I could have sworn they were initially portrayed as enemies. The pacing was bizarre and very jarring (which could be attributed to a dream-like quality, if I was being generous). Situations were convenient when needed to be, and I often had to suspend my disbelief to continue reading. Lastly, the characters were lacking development and the repetition got old (referring to all of the grandmother's grandmother bits, and so many sentences starting with "But").
Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Miscarriage , Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/injury detail, and Medical content
greattappertwo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/injury detail, and Violence
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Minor: War
briely's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Minor: Death and Grief