Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

16 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Confinement

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Blood, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

2.75

I don't know about this one. Something about it didn't really draw me in. It felt repetitive and like we were spinning our wheels for a lot of the time and then the ending really just jumped out of nowhere. That may be first book struggles though as there is a lot to set up. But I would have hoped that the library would feature more in this one, since that was the name of the book and we barely got anything. Also, I don't really know why the main character is 14-years-old. The themes are really mature and dark and I know that a lot of YA books deal with intense themes, but it seems like the audience is more for adult fantasy, so why not have the main character be in her early 20s or even late teens?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War

kansas_girl's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

Ropa might be one of the most interesting characters and POVs I’ve ever read. Just the way she looks at the world, and that mixture of so smart but so worldly. The lore is given really sporadically and sparingly, which is nice so it doesn’t get weighed down by it but I did end up wanting more. I’m excited to read the rest of the series. 

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.”

---

Content Warnings

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

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 :)

---

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

---

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

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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? No

3.5

The Library Of the Dead was a tricky book because there are a lot of interesting things, but I struggled with the execution. The book is written in first person with a lot of slang, which is fine, but the protagonist rambles. It has a very “inner monologue” feel and it slowed down the narrative. Add to that: the library mentioned in the title only appears in a couple chapters, and the plot didn’t really get going until halfway through the book, and this was a struggle for me.

The magical concepts were interesting, but the system was infodumped and the protagonist’s explanation came off a bit impatient with the whole thing. I still haven’t nailed down the time period (futuristic but with loads of contemporary pop culture references?). The descriptions of magic were good and the plot was interesting, but delivery was simplified and overly lucky.

In general, the book was interesting to read, but a bit too messy to hold my interest for a re-read or continuation.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

The main character is BIPOC and a supporting character uses a wheelchair. Characters experience poverty.

nicnevin's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• 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

Good story set in a post-apocalyptic Edinburgh. Plot was pretty good but I would have preferred more worldbuilding stuff because I am unsure where and when the timelines diverged. 

---

Content Warnings

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

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Rape, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Classism