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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
2.0
“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.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
readingwithkaitlyn'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, and Alcohol
Drowning, sex work.bergha1998'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
3.75
Paranormal Mystery, Little but coming of age
“Doing something when it is hard, because it is the right thing to do, matters more than doing it when it’s easy.”
“Evil doesn’t happen because good men do nothing. It happens because they get sucked in, they participate. There are no neutral observers in this world, Old Albert E. showed us that already. We’re all in the game, whether we like it or not.”
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
sauvageloup'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? Yes
3.5
pros:
- the writing style was different and fun. I got a real sense of who Ropa was and liked her a lot. her character comes through through the writing, with a quirky mix of slang and complicated language and concepts. shes both smart and street smart.
- I also really loved priya and gran as side characters, they were great. priya was a lot of fun to read, and ropa's love for her gran was obvious.
- there was also some lovely descriptions in Huchu's writing, creating a great atmosphere.
- the horror was also genuinely creepy
- while the mystery was great, the tensions ropa had about still bringing money in and helping her family felt very real. she really feels she has to carry everything and doesnt tell anyone older than her, apart from Callender, who fails her.
- I likes the dystopian Edinburgh a lot, made a nice change from London, and the implied breakdown of society which was hinted at but never entirely explained, was interesting.
- priya's magical wheelchair was fab, really interesting application of magic.
- and the bits of African culture, the mbira helping ground the spirits and gran's magic, were great, enjoyed learning about them.
cons:
- I never got a real sense of Jomo, he seemed quite hapless and not particularly helpful, didnt quite get Ropa's loyalty to him.
- occasionally the slang dialogue did feel a bit forced but not often.
- the two main bits of the plot seemed very disparat .
- I did get a bit frustrated with the refusal to give an in depth explanation of a lot of things, like
but overall, really enjoyed this read :)
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexism
a past character's gambling addiction is discussed.nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition
- 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? No
1.75
Graphic: Death and Car accident
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
nicnevin'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sabrinz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Setting - Edinburgh at some point past our present time? Or our present time? I am not sure, there are some hints about some catastrophe and about the UK being ruled by a king and things having changed but ... we never know what exactly happend. (One of the things I'm quite eager to find out).
But the story:
We follow Ropa, a 14-year old, super smart girl who lives in a caravan with her grandma and little siter and tried to make enough money delivering messages from the dead to cover their rent and her Gran's meds.
Enter a ghost who wants her to find her son who has gone missing like other children in the area. Since the ghost can't pay and has no one to pay for that request, Ropa declines - it's bad for her business. But her Gran wants her to take the job, to not forget sympathy and so Rope tried to find the boy - and gets herself in much more trouble than she though.
While on that case, her friend sneaks her into the library he's working in for some research that may lead them to the lost boy. Turns out the Library is more a private club for magicians and Ropa only marginally escapes the punishment for sneaking in by one member defendin her and taking her into his charge.
I don't want to spoil to much of the rest of the story, but it's a wild ride from about the halfway point in the book. Things are HAPPENING then. But before then we get quite a lot of information about what is going on and the Edinburgh we are seeing (even though I have many, many questions!).
The end is satisfactory and leaves some room for book 2 and a bigger evil that is afoot (and has to be stopped).
I really liked the writing style (1st person with Ropa's way to narrate things). There are lots of allusions which makes it fun to read, but you also have to think sometimes what exactly Ropa means.
The only thing that was a bit off for me was that Rope was only 14 but whip-smart. It worked in the story; I was just thinking why she got herself into this entire mess. But hey ho - almost apocalyptic Edinburgh and ghost messages and all that :) Ropa is who she is.
Moderate: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism and Trafficking
aardwyrm'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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Police brutality