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merrynthomas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
Minor: Gore
fjerda'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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
plume_de_renarde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Misogyny and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
jadziaaudrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Murder
Minor: Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
ra22ouille'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
3.0
The plot ambled and the intensity/stakes kept seesawing with a lot of intensity. It took away from the impact of the ending. It felt like it was just another one of the big hurdles that had already happened and didnt feel particularly special.
I found the way some of the accents were written annoying.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Medical trauma
kathryn_saulinas'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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Child death
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was an enjoyable book. I think the characters are well-developed. The story started off strong and the ending was weak. I do plan to read the other books in the series.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
mags_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Slavery, Xenophobia, and Abandonment
nikenacs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death
bexi'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
4.0
I often struggled to connect with the characters and found many of them unlikable, including the main character Lyra (she grew on me, but I'm still not sure I like her).
I believe this book is supposed to be a critique of Christianity, or maybe more specifically the Church. I occasionally felt I lacked the knowledge to understand all of the critiques because although my parents were raised Baptist & Catholic respectively, I was not raised as such. For context, I'm not a religious person and identify as agnostic. I found the commentary interesting, but if you're a Christian you might get upset by some of it.
This book is marked as middle grade and young adult. I'd say it leans more YA. I found this incredibly dark for MG and would not recommend it to the average middle grader. If said child is emotionally & intellectually mature for their age then okay, but otherwise I'd say it's best for ages 14+. I don't have kids, so take that with a grain of salt. I personally would not have been mature/smart enough to get much out this book had I read it in middle school. 😅
I thought the story was unique and liked it overall, but I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book in the series.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Excrement, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism