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001'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
missdaniellexo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
gabography's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
what an honestly bonkers concept turned out to be such a dark, fast paced, and surprisingly moving story written in a lovely prose that i can only imagine comes from the very stories that inspired the ensemble of not-so-cuddly creatures (some reviews did not care for that and some even called it pretentious, but i see what the author was going for and i loved it).
truly the only reason why this book doesn't earn a perfect five is due to the human characters, except for the one girl in the group named caroline who i liked a lot. to keep it as spoiler-free as possible because this book should be read blind, i found the main character to be the male equivalent of a mary sue at times, in the sense that you can tell he was the apple of the author's eye and had to be the most specialest lil guy of all the guys in the story, which felt a bit :/ as the story went on. while he was interesting and you feel for him, it all lining up the way it did just made me wish there was more there than just something that felt very "ope, he was special the whole time! surprise everyone!" like... okay. his male friend was also very one-note, left to be nothing more than the bumbling himbo sidekick who makes the main character look ever so clever and special in comparison. if not for his bravery and care for caroline and their relationship tugging at my heart, i would not care for him at all.
other than that, the world, the animal characters and their plight, the theme of trauma and loss and grief, all of it made for such a unique story that i know is going to stay with me. peter rabbit and friends are already looking a little more suspicious.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
ssummar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, and Colonisation
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
franzys_whip's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A teeny tiny bit slow in the beginning. Just a little. Coming from a person who reads pretty fast-paced books most of the time though, it's really not that bad.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent
deebot's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
cait's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
starrysteph'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The concept was fantastic; what if the anthropomorphic animals from your favorite classic childhood book were real? But what if their stories weren't quite so sweet - and they were out for murderous revenge?
The plot was imaginative and I think the author's skill was best utilized during the excerpts of the story within a story (written as epic poetry). Seriously, the poetry was awesome.
I also enjoyed the characterization of each of the four main animals. I loved the initial playfulness, and the wonder & charm at meeting these literary characters come to life.
However, the greater content of the book fell flat for me. It was painfully overwritten. Every single sentence was streeeeetched out, unnecessarily so, and it often felt like "fun time with a thesaurus". I love lyrical writing, but I did not find it to be particularly well done or at all justified here. It felt like an attempt at pretentiousness without depth, and it just made my head hurt. (It was hugely ironic that there are two characters within this book who speak in an unbearably academic way - the others poke fun at them.)
I'm sure this is partially because of the writing, but the pacing was very mismatched. The first 100 or so pages were a real drag to get through, and I'm sure many readers gave up before we even got to the juicy action. And even when everything exploded and the horror began, we rushed through some exciting moments and painfully lingered on others.
My other major gripe was the amount of perfectly timed moments and coincidences. Everyone was saved from death at the last possible second (JUST as the knife was going in, etc.). Characters came back from death (well, the very brink of death I guess) so many times that their final deaths lost their impact on me as a reader.
There were some eloquent quotes & reflections towards the end of the book that gave me pause. Overall, excellent concept with some high quality moments ... but ultimately weakened by the prose.
CW: violence, death, murder, self harm, slavery, animal cruelty, animal death, suicidal thoughts, death of parent, abandonment, confinement
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail