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fraeyalise'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
5.0
This book will stay with me for a long time. It was very detailed and long winded, but the details could not be cut without substantially changing the story and making it worse.
Everything builds so slowly, it moves like a thunderstorm.
The ending made me cry, all my feelings are very complicated about it, but I am happy with the ending and how everything wrapped up.
I'm so grateful that we, the Readers, got to see the entire story with all the parts.
I was a bit intimidated by this book because of the length, but I am so glad I found the courage to begin it. What a world. What a story.
Graphic: Kidnapping and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, and War
In a book set in the 1800s England during the Napoleonic Wars with one of the main characters being a Fairy with no regard for human life, there is a fair amount of horrors that come with it. Also in a book with over 1000 pages, there's no way to have a story without some potentially triggering content. I will say Clarke does an excellent job of talking about sensitive topics, and mentions of some of the more horrible things, while blunt on purpose, are thankfully brief.amsswim'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? Yes
5.0
For lovers of magical fantasy and characters with significant interpersonal relationship issues, this is the books for you. Love the footnotes and constant character pov rotation.
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
lizziaha's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of the longest books I have ever read, but also one of the best. Clarke flawlessly blends historical fiction with fantasy, while taking care to write in the style of the period. I’ve heard it described as if Jane Austen wrote about magic, which feels spot on. Although this may not be for everyone, don’t be put off by the length. The ending is well worth it:)
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What ultimately robbed it from being 5 Stars in my eyes is that it was too long! This book is fantastic but it didn't need to be over 800 pages. It is maddening how many times characters not sharing information with each other prevents the right action from occurring until hundreds of pages later. There was a point where I thought I was never going to finish this damn thing and I felt about it akin to a textbook I was reading for class. And then we finally get a large jolt of plot progression in the last ~150 so pages that was so satisfying it kept me from from going down to a flat 4 Stars.
Sidenote: this book contains period-typical racism, in both remarks made about Jewish people and one of our main PoV characters being a Black man in London in the early 1800's.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, and Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Antisemitism
kanadrallegria'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: Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery and War
Minor: Mental illness and Forced institutionalization
pvbobrien'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
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The plot
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is about England in the 19th century. The book is an alternative version of our own reality.
Once upon a time magic used to be strong and overflowing in England but over the centuries magic has slowly been disappearing all over the country. But while practicing magicians have disappeared, theoretical magicians have lived on. Mr Norrell is determined to change the magical foundations at which his reality is based. He becomes the first practicing magicians in centuries and tries to make the job respectable again. He travels to London to show England what real magic looks like but everything changes when he meets Jonathan Strange. He takes Jonathan on as his pupil and together they try to bring magic back to England, even thought they both have different views on what this means precisely.
The book has a slow start since a lot of different stories are being told throughout the book and it takes some time for them all to fit together. After 200+ story’s the pacing becomes better and around 700+ pages the story takes flight and every storyline gets connected. I enjoyed the book, a lot, but I feel like the book could have been told in less pages with the same effect. And that’s just a shame, in my opinion.
Writingstyle
The author chose to write the book in a more classical writingstyle reminiscent of the time the story takes place in. This makes the book a bit heavier to read but it does set the mood. The writer uses a lot of footnotes to further explain plot points and to deepen the worldbuilding. I did sometimes enjoy them but sometimes it did give the book sla stiffness that I associate with schoolbooks and research papers. Again it sets the tone but it does make the pacing of the book slower and the story heavier.
Characters
This book has some wonderfully complicated characters that I really enjoyed. I did find it a bit disappointing that the focus between pages 600-800 of the book was more on Jonathan, it felt like Norrell disappeared for a bit. It was especially disappointing since Norrell did do important things in that part of the book that happens largely of screen. I would have like a more 50/50 view of the characters since it felt to me like I was reading a different book in the same universe. I cannot explain it better.
Worldbuilding
The worldbuilding in this book is incredibly detailed and I’m my opinion it’s the best aspect of the book. Yes, there is a lot of it to go through but it makes for a very believable world.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to more seasoned readers. It can be a bit of a challenge but it’s worth reading it.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
carrionkid's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, and Forced institutionalization
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Toxic friendship