Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

58 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

4.25

I apparently totally forgot to review this book when I read it, but it was the second book for the Besties Book Club. (But then no one showed up lol.)  I want to continue this series, but I think I'll listen to the audiobook for the next one because the writing is so heavily accented, that I think I'm missing some of the cadence by reading it myself. As someone who isn't super familiar with a Scottish accent and can't easily recreate it in my head. But whew, this one got heckin' dark. It was quite scary, but I thought the characters were a lot of fun, and there was significant tension for things not seeming incredibly okay.  A fun read.
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moonytoast's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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laurenloveslink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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archiebb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I can really imagine a wonderful claymation film with a soundtrack composed of mbira music. It’s just dark enough but also wraps up nicely and has a lot of very fun components (good friendships, side conflicts, memorable look for the MC with her died hair, fox buddy, etc).

i like the magic system in this series: its clear and im bought in! Especially the music vibrations and ghost talk and the seeming conflict between magic practices her grandmother gives to her and the “scientific” magic of the institutions she is introduced to. 

She is a very adultified child. It’s hard watching her work so hard and return home only to take on more responsibility there. It is nice watching her have a loving family with her Gran and younger sis though.  

One section in particular
where Ropa is trapped in the house
feels like Coraline in the best way. really fucking creepy. 

I loved that she had to ask herself “what would gran do” after the whole fire thing didn’t work. like yes come back to ur family’s magic and don’t listen to those arses at the hoity toity library!


Some of the plot feels a little Deus ex machine, particularly
the magic scarf.
The fox at least you kind of expect to be her sidekick. Also her super smart friend who knows so much magic than her kind of feels ike a “Gandalf on the eagle” thing. Like if only Priya was around to help Ropa would be able to get out of more of the mess she finds herself in. Which is even more evident when compared to J who never helps and always gets her in dire trouble. 
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elizabeth1392's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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lilymw's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

While the concept was interesting, the story felt slow and repetitive at times. I felt the characters were rather one-dimensional, though I'm sure there's more character development as the series progresses.
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slburg's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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stardust22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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kansas_girl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

 
 This alternative world mystery is set in Edinburgh and features thirteen-year-old Ropa, a “ghostalker,” who makes her meager living by delivering messages from ghosts to their living relatives. The ghosts begin urging her to solve the mystery of missing children, who have been abducted and then returned horribly aged and stripped of their humanity. Then Ropa stumbles into the hidden library of magic, an ancient repository of magic used by the thriving otherworldly and magical humans of Edinburgh. I really loved Ropa; she’s sassy, smart, and cynical but devoted to her little sister and blind grandmother whom she supports with her ghostly ventures. Her voice is uniquely layered with Scottish practicality and Zimbabwean traditional mysticism. 
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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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2.0

 Finished reading: December 24th 2023


“Doing something when it is hard, because it is the right thing to do, matters more than doing it when it's easy. The world needs light now more than ever.”

I know that I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I do tend to enjoy a good urban fantasy and there was just something about the blurb of The Library Of The Dead that had me fully intrigued. I was SO excited when my TBR jar thought it was time to finally read it, and I actually expected to end up finding a new favorite... But sadly the complete opposite happened. This had nothing to do with the premise itself, and everything with the writing. I simply clashed horribly with the writing style, and the way the premise was developed was actually rather confusing and vague at times. I strongly disliked all the slang and cursing; instead of feeling natural, the tone was rather forced and I sometimes struggled to understand certain phrases. My dislike for the writing also ment I wasn't really a fan of the main character Ropa, which was where most of the slang appeared. Even my curiosity for the bookish elements, the library and the magic couldn't redeem this story for me, and I confess that I started skimreading long before the halfway mark. I guess it won't come as a surprise that I won't be continuing this series in the future. 
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