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badbadwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I can't even comment in depth on the other elements, I feel like, because what little is there gets completely overpowered by the writing. I don't mind purple prose or stylistic experiments, but they need to be supplementing an actually compelling narrative and/or about 70% shorter. Here, though, if you take away the technical frills, you're left with 500 pages' worth of a bunch of scattered concepts that could have been interesting but don't amount to much in execution.
I wasn't super impressed by The Night Circus when I read it either, but I don't remember it being quite this insufferable, so maybe there's some sophomore slump effect going on. Either way, a pretty big disappointment, and irritated me so much at times I would have definitely thrown a physical copy. Honestly, I blame the editor -- if anyone did indeed edit this -- more than Morgenstern, because a good editor might have at least said, "Hey, so if you aren't going to follow a coherent plot or fully flesh out any of your characters, maybe you could at least punctuate your writing so it's readable?" Alas, clearly nothing of the sort happened, and the certain kind of reader I am suffers for it.
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
celisabeth'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Animal death and Body horror
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
theotheleo'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
4.75
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
ollieez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
augie_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking
margaret_k30's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Death
Minor: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Abandonment
simonstays5's review against another edition
Me cuesta mucho meterme en narraciones con descripciones abundantes. En este caso, ya que estoy dentro, llega otra historia a sacarme.
Me duele mucho dejarlo, porque siento que es un libro que debió haberme gustado mucho.
Zachary, quizás en otra vida sí te quise.
Moderate: Kidnapping
the_reading_wren'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? It's complicated
5.0
I should have been prepared by reading The Night Circus, but I forgot how the author creates a world for the reader to fall in love with before breaking it apart… and resolving the story in the most beautiful and satisfying way. I enjoyed spending so much time at the beginning of the book getting to know the main character and the beginnings of the many threads that later weave into the narrative. Then the second half became an un-put-down-able roller-coater ride!
Morgenstern’s talent for world-building I think comes from the sensory descriptions - the texture of a jumper, the taste of a drink, the richness of a voice, the sense of a space and the smell of a perfume are all given importance. But things are rarely over-described, making it feel like the storytelling is working with the reader’s own imagination.
Overall I think the diversity of the cast of characters was well done, bar a few missed opportunities for trans/nonbinary and better disability representation. Something I particularly noticed was that the main character’s mother is given a significant voice in the narrative, which is unusual in stories like this, and I appreciated it.
I’m really glad I listened to the audiobook; the cast is brilliant, and having different voices read different sections helps follow the flicks between times, people, places and books within books.
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail