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kaziaroo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I read this because of the connection to Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron, but was very disappointed.
This book is incredibly suspenseful and John Connelly is brilliant at creating atmosphere, but there were just too many sections that left a bad taste in my mouth. I had my misgivings at the start when racist slurs like "g*psies" were used casually, but it got worse and worse. The book is permeated with homophobia, fatphobia and misogyny. The complex characters are all men, while the female characters are either villains or damsels in distress (with the possible exception of Rose, who is still one-dimensional). There are two gay characters in the book (one briefly mentioned near the beginning and one with a major role later on) and both are linked with paedophilia and "unnaturalness". This was an incredibly spiteful book to anyone who isn't a straight, white, well-educated man.
I also didn't like how the author makes enemies of non-fiction books, encouraging the reader to look on reading the newspaper or textbooks with disdain:
"He couldn’t understand most of what they [the non-fiction books] were saying, but they spoke v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y as if what they had to impart was very important or the person to whom they were speaking was very stupid. Some of the books appeared to be arguing among themselves in blah-blah-blah tones, the way experts sometimes talked on the wireless when they were addressing one another, surrounded by other experts whom they were trying to impress with their intelligence."
"Newspaper stories were like newly caught fish, worthy of attention only for as long as they remained fresh, which was not very long at all. They were like the street urchins hawking the evening editions, all shouty and insistent, while stories – real stories, proper made-up stories – were like stern but helpful librarians in a well-stocked library. Newspaper stories were as insubstantial as smoke, as long-lived as mayflies. They did not take root but were instead like weeds that crawled along the ground, stealing the sunlight from more deserving tales. David’s father’s mind was always occupied by shrill, competing voices, each one silenced as soon as he gave it his attention, only for its clamour to be instantly replaced by another."
This is an incredibly dangerous idea to impress on potentially young readers of this book. Yes, fiction is wonderful, but reading and understanding non-fiction is vital.
Additionally, I found the key action scenes disappointing; after a lot of build-up, David seemed to get out of each situation relatively easily. The other characters kept praising how he was brave and achieved what grown men didn't and I was just like... Where? When did he do anything special that Roland (for example) couldn't have done? I felt like I was constantly being told to be in awe of David but I just didn't feel it. The ending felt too easy as well. I suppose it's good that David decided not to sell his brother to the Crooked Man, but simply holding out for long enough magically solved all of his problems – his two main antagonists, the Crooked Man and the Loups, simply disappeared and David trotted off into the sunset leaving the kingdom potentially in chaos, being suddenly without its monarchy.
Overall, I don't recommend this book and I certainly would never encourage any under-18s to read it, no matter the target audience (the book is written in a fairytale style and the protagonist is ~13–14 years old for most of the story). The content is dark and violent enough to make it unsuitable for young children, but I would be worried about even teenagers being influenced by this book. There are so much better things out there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
persychan's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Era un meh, di 3 stelle, con delle scelte di "dark fairytale" che mi hanno lasciato perplessa e mi hanno fatto chiedere quanta misoginia mai analizzata abbia l'autore, e quante fossero per l'amore dello shock, ma il momento in cui il libro stesso si sente in dover di dirti "Ah, questo libro parla di un bambino che diventa uomo" perchè non è in grado di comunicarlo in altra maniera, mi perdi.
"In quel momento divenne più uomo che ragazzo, e fu allora quando il suo passaggio all'età adulta ebbe seriamente inizio." a pagina 215.
Ah sì, il tipico passaggio all'età adulta: vedere corpi umani appesi come mosche a rovi giganteschi. Certamente si tratta di crescita, non di traumi che segneranno la tua intera vita e non ti permetteranno di diventare un adulto senza problemi di salute mentale. Di cui dimostravi già tratti, se non fosse che l'iniziale istinto di OCD viene eliminato dal "magari no" di un Boscaiolo/Figura paterna numero 2.
A parte i vari problemi del libro, ho avuto la sfortuna di leggerlo nella nuova edizione Fanucci che ha una terribile copertina AI (o come definita da amici, il primo caso di body horror con un libro), mentre la postfazione del libro mi tesse le lodi dell'edizione illustrata inglese. Così, per farti invidia che invece tu hai 'sta ciofecata.
"In quel momento divenne più uomo che ragazzo, e fu allora quando il suo passaggio all'età adulta ebbe seriamente inizio." a pagina 215.
Ah sì, il tipico passaggio all'età adulta: vedere corpi umani appesi come mosche a rovi giganteschi. Certamente si tratta di crescita, non di traumi che segneranno la tua intera vita e non ti permetteranno di diventare un adulto senza problemi di salute mentale. Di cui dimostravi già tratti, se non fosse che l'iniziale istinto di OCD viene eliminato dal "magari no" di un Boscaiolo/Figura paterna numero 2.
A parte i vari problemi del libro, ho avuto la sfortuna di leggerlo nella nuova edizione Fanucci che ha una terribile copertina AI (o come definita da amici, il primo caso di body horror con un libro), mentre la postfazione del libro mi tesse le lodi dell'edizione illustrata inglese. Così, per farti invidia che invece tu hai 'sta ciofecata.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, and Vomit
bechlette47's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
I didn’t understand this book would be as intense as it was, it was pretty graphic (violence). But I will say I LOVED the ending! It was perfect IMO
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
navyblu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail
lilcoppertop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Ableism and Homophobia
noms01's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy
mockingjayx16's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, and War
bluesunrise's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Even though the book is interesting, is tooo dark for me. Too much blood, is not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
gnarly_cinnamonroll's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This a book that initially difficult to start but it definitely begins to pickup a chapters.it has a cool setting and I often myself craving a deeper understanding of the world. The retelling of the fairytales in the book was an enjoyable aspect for me. It made me incredibly nostalgic for the Sisters Grimm series that I read as a child. I enjoyed the character development of David, however found that I personally did not connect to him deeply. It felt like a sweet read navigating complex feelings of grief and real raw emotions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
admiralteaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence