Scan barcode
katlouisee'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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
eurypterus'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
3.75
Minor: Animal death and Death
The depiction of a native american ghost hasn't aged terribly well and is vers tropey in a bad way.theaceofpages'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? Yes
4.25
Have you ever wondered what would happen if death went on holiday? Or how cities go about reproducing? Probably not but these are exactly the kinds of questions you didn't know you needed the answer to before you get them. Death, having told he has limited time left, decides that he wants to see what being human is all about. He finds himself working as a farm hand under the name Bill Door and seems to be perpetually confused. In contrast to his literal mindedness we have the chaos incarnate that is the wizards of Unseen University. Through them (and the recently deceased Windle Poons) we get to see the consequences of death's time off as everything starts descending into even more mayhem than usual.
I loved this book and the characters. And it definitely had some very interesting ideas. I do, however, feel like Pratchett tried to do a bit too much. Two whole plots (while related) is a bit too much for a relatively short book. I feel like a lot was lost, although I still enjoyed it immensely. I just wish there was a little bit less jumping around and that we had got to see more of the antics of both sets of characters.
While it doesn't really matter what order you read the Discworld Books in, I do think readers would gain much more from this story if they have already read at least one book about the wizards and one about Death. I think having an understanding about the characters before diving into this rather busy book (it feels like a Pratchett cover with a lot happening at the same time and mentally jumping between details) would definitely be beneficial.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death
petitemass15'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
bluejayreads's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death
rini'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit
swampmonster's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death
42donotpanic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Death
valereads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It follows what happens when Death (that is the anthropomorphic personification of death) decides to stop being well... death. I really enjoyed the stories focusing on Death and Windle Poons. These sections in particular had some reflections of death and the meaning of life that were really powerful. Unfortunately, as is often the case in books with multiple powerful narratives, there was one that I enjoyed significantly less that the others and that was the wizards' storyline. This one was overall okay with some very enjoyable moments and great jokes but it just wasn't as good as the rest and is what brought my overall rating down.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death