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mishmoshroom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia and Vomit
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drowninglycheejelly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Vomit, and War
I marked eating disorders as being a graphic description because of the ways in which the emaciated characters are explained in depth.killmoore_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Atmospheric, dark, and a sort of subtle terror within the imagery that creeps along the back of your neck and holds you hostage up until the last chapter.
That last chapter is what kept it from being a 5 star read for me. It has a rather lack luster climax, which in a Gothic style horror isn't a bad thing, but the ending is abrupt and a tad disappointing.
As a retelling, I think T. Kingfisher knocked it out of the park. The fungal element was well thought out, and the imagery was beautiful. If that ending would have been a bit more.. complete, I suppose, it would have been phenomenal.
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Vomit, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Unfortunately, this did not hold up to my expectations.
First of all, I don't see the need for this fictional world that Kingfisher has created. She spends valuable pages explaining a world that isn't relevant to her story. That's not to say that I don't like it, but I wish she would've chosen one or the other—fantasy novel or a short horror story.
Because the mystery doesn't really start until the book is nearly done. I never really got the feeling of something ominous or even anticipation for what happened next. Well, that isn't entirely true. The part about the rabbits really intrigued me! But Kingfisher's writing style here seems too—rushed. She's moved on to the next point before she ever lets the last impression set in. I want more detail—insight into the characters.
Still, I like that she writes a non-binary character without writing an LGBT novel. I'm gay myself—I have nothing against them, but representation in genres that aren't LGBT is important, I think. Normalises it.
Well, as a whole, I just think the mystery and horror never struck me. I very rarely read horror at all, but I do love Poe's work, so this disappointed me deeply.
However! Not a bad book. As I said, there were parts that intrigued me, but I'd really expected more of this book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, and War
hwesta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Very good book, I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the underpinnings of the horrible things, I never want to think about mushrooms or hares again
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Sexism, Vomit, and War
lipstickitotheman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
tifftastic87'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? Yes
4.5
I really loved how the characters interact, especially Easton and Hob the horse. I like the simple use of pronouns woven into a made up foreign language and how the culture is heavily featured in Easton's character. I loved that there was an English woman who was a mycologist as one of the unlikely heroes.
This was a fun story and I found myself wishing for more.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Gore and War
Minor: Vomit
dustghosts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Transphobia and War