elodiethefangirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gore and Child death
sylexlibris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Death
atalea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Death, Classism, and Racism
Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
emmaopaline'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
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Violence, and Death
whatathymeitwas'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? It's complicated
5.0
In this novel (novella?), we get a TON of character development, and some expectations have been set as far as the pacing. While there's only a handful of spooky things that happen in it, they're all relatively impactful. So far everything can just about be reasoned away, aside from a particular happening in one of the houses. Some of the characters seem to have a bit of a catching doubt about Elinor, or they realize something is just a bit off, but things are ramping up slowly enough that she doesn't necessarily draw undue attention. Very interested in seeing where the other five books take me.
I don't often choose to read things that are this long, my reading statistics on Storygraph tend to lean more towards middle sized books, with the most typical being around 300-400 pages, but I specifically picked this one out due to its length— as a whole, obviously, I think the six novels combined makes for something between 800-900 pages. But I was so enthralled with McDowell's writing, and I had glanced over this before choosing The Elementals, that I couldn't stop myself from picking it up immediately.
Minor: Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism, Alcohol, Child death, Murder, Racism, and Slavery
ysra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Racism, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship