Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

14 reviews

alessa7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Trafficking, and Grief

jhurdman's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cursing

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense 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

4.0

This was a fun time, but I was kind of surprised that the protagonist was so young based on how others had talked about this book. I'm not entirely sure what age range is the target audience. Not that a book can't be for everyone, but I like it to be clear who the main audience is. If someone had pitched this to me as a teen/YA novel I might have rated it a bit higher since my expectations would have been met. I'll probably read book 2. Ropa is a fun protagonist and I am looking forward to reading more about her friendships with Jomo and Priya and hopefully getting some more backstory on Gran.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Trafficking

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Slavery, Car accident, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Car accident

awkwardimagination's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Library of the Dead is a book thats been sitting on my shelf for about 2 years now, I bought it when it first came out. I thought i would be ready about an experienced ghosttalker who finds a mystical library in a modern Edinburgh and plot ensues. What i got was a 15 yo punk ghosttalker with a slingshot, no magical experience, a begrudging fox sidekick, and a ninja scarf in a Not Quite Modern Edinburgh. It was fantastic. Super creepy imagery, but fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Torture

mattyb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Trafficking, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Police brutality, and Alcohol

sauvageloup's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

a fun supernatural, dystopian mystery read, enjoyed it.

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

with the Brounie, the eyeless milkman, the unaging siobhan

- 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 .

the creepy brounie house and the children having elixir made from them were only barely linked. 
- I did get a bit frustrated with the refusal to give an in depth explanation of a lot of things, like

the collapse of Edinburgh, why the milkman had no eyes, why only the faces of the kids got old, what happened with Ropa's mum, why Ropa's magic didnt work (tho I guess it said at the end that she just needed to be angry enough), how Priya's wheelchair magic worked (why could she go on ceilings but not up a steep hill?).

I mean, it's a mystery story and a series so some of these are understandable but there did seem to be a bit too much vagueness at times.

but overall, really enjoyed this read :)

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Content Warnings

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.

pvbobrien's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

arlaubscher's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Trafficking

jim_jam's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The style of the writing is a bit irritating at first but you get used to it. Overall, an alright read but not amazing. Would probably have given up if it was not an audiobook/ was longer. The world building feels sort of half done and rushed, as does the plot and most of the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Murder