Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Laws of the Skies

I'm not sure if this is the writer's or translators fault, but the writing was difficult to get through. From typos, to multiple plage long paragraphs, to randomly switching characters mid-paragraph, the story was a mess to follow. This doesn't include how the book randomly breaks the 4th wall by talking ti the reader directly, assigning large complex vocabulary to 6 year Olds only to have them crying for their moms moments later, or immediately ruins any suspense by letting you know there is no hope.

I adore horror books but this book felt like a fantasy of violence rather than an actual story.

The last 10 pages or so detail the death of the 'villian' in grotesque vision that I was gagging. The villain, who murdered others, was also a 6 year old abuse victim. It felt odd to spend so long in such a short book detailing this death.

.

All in all, this is a bad knock-off of Battle Royale with 6 year Olds.

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gknott's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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mikeroderique's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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yourfavavery's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

3.5

So I wanted to read this because I heard it billed as Lord of the Flies but with six-year-olds. That's sort of what it is, but instead of factions with some bullies and some victims, it mostly has one psychopathic kid and a series of deadly misfortunes that can happen to scared kids when they're alone in the woods.

It has a moral of life being messy, not having a "happy ending" or a "moral" or "theme", that sometimes bad things just happen and there isn't always hope to be gleaned from a terrible situation.

Overall, it's a good novella - I breezed through it in one night - but don't look here for any warm and fuzzies.

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dosxhime's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

When people said that The Laws of the Skies are brutal, believe them.

This comes to a close second in terms of darkest books I ever read. First is of course, Hogg. If you're not a fan of children getting un@lived, I would highly recommend to skip this.

3.5 / 5 C-

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winsomefish's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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splatteredbastard's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

CWs: gore, violence (especially against children), death, abuse, alcohol, graphic descriptions. (This may not be an all-encompassing list, so please research TWs for yourself as well.)

I had pretty high expectations for this book and I think that may be why I felt so disappointed. It kind of reminds me of what I remember of Lord of the Flies (a book I had to read in middle school and didn’t like at the time—I haven’t given it another chance as an adult, though I probably should), but everyone is dead by the end. You know this from the beginning, just reading the description of the book.

I personally did not like the writing style. It was very wordy and confusing, but I will admit that it added to the chaotic effect, which actually makes it better. You are switching between different perspectives, at times rapidly, so it may take a bit of backreading to realize that you have switched from one group to another. I also really did not like the breaking of the fourth wall and using second person POV, as that’s just something I despise, but others have found that section to feel more personal and gruesome, so again, it’s totally personal preference. Part of me found it difficult to believe that these were a group of 6 year olds based on the thought processes and actions detailed, but I tried to consider that anything is possible when you’re out in the woods with a young boy who was abused and traumatized. It definitely seems like the children were written as too mature, especially as someone who has worked with Kindergarteners.

The actual story itself was interesting, but I did take off for the writing style (just as a personal preference, others have loved the book) and the repetition (there are really only so many ways that a 6 year old can murder other 6 year olds and adults). Overall, I would definitely recommend the book, I just had some things I personally didn’t like about it. I think with how hyped it was on Booktok as well, I had higher expectations that just weren’t met, so that’s also something to consider. The ending sequence was excellent and had such detailed gore, which eventually led to the most bleak ending to the story.

Video review on Tiktok, also spoiler free: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR3WTAY3/

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