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greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Bullying and Confinement
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Blood, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
bubbeleh's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Classism
slburg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Death
toffishay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
2.0
“Doing something when it is hard, because it is the right thing to do, matters more than doing it when it's easy. The world needs light now more than ever.”
I know that I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I do tend to enjoy a good urban fantasy and there was just something about the blurb of The Library Of The Dead that had me fully intrigued. I was SO excited when my TBR jar thought it was time to finally read it, and I actually expected to end up finding a new favorite... But sadly the complete opposite happened. This had nothing to do with the premise itself, and everything with the writing. I simply clashed horribly with the writing style, and the way the premise was developed was actually rather confusing and vague at times. I strongly disliked all the slang and cursing; instead of feeling natural, the tone was rather forced and I sometimes struggled to understand certain phrases. My dislike for the writing also ment I wasn't really a fan of the main character Ropa, which was where most of the slang appeared. Even my curiosity for the bookish elements, the library and the magic couldn't redeem this story for me, and I confess that I started skimreading long before the halfway mark. I guess it won't come as a surprise that I won't be continuing this series in the future.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
fionamclary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Confinement and Trafficking
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Slavery, Car accident, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail
readingwithkaitlyn'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
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, and Alcohol
Drowning, sex work.awkwardimagination'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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Torture
atlantiareads'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? It's complicated
3.0
Overall i felt the first 130 pages were too slow and were difficult to get through. Truthfully consideted dnf'ing.
I feel like learning more about the greatly detailed magic system and spending more time in the hidden library would have brought me more enjoyment with this book.
Unsure if I will continue on to book 2.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Police brutality, and Medical trauma
rosemaryandrue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Astonishingly, I have finally read a physical book! This is a series I've been eying for a while, and honestly I'm not sure why it took so long to get into it.
Ropa is a snarky lead with a strong narrative voice; it took me a little bit to get used to it, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The world-building is very intriguing - we are in some future Edinburgh that has entered urban decay. There are allusions to some kind of Scottish rebellion in the past, and magic seems to be an open secret. We get enough information on this to flavor the book without really getting a complete grasp on what's going on, but I expect we will learn more in future books. Same goes for a certain mysterious entity and whatever is going on with Ropa's mother.
There was plenty of action and mystery and magic, and I liked following Ropa along on her journey to find Ollie and learn some magic along the way. However, I did find the plot resolved in a somewhat predictable manner - once we were in Arthur's Lodge, about two-thirds through the book, I knew precisely how things would end, and I was not surprised.
On the whole, though, this is a fun urban fantasy with world-building that feels fresh, and I'm excited to continue the series.
Moderate: Violence and Classism
Minor: Addiction