shieldbearer'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
4.0
Ultimately, a few small things did knock this book down by a star for me. For one, I would have
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at least switched the fates of Parks and Gallagher, though I also think you could make an argument for Gallagher's survival being more interesting than his death given the detailed backstory and internal conflict he's given. His interaction with the status quo at the end of the story would have been extremely interesting IMOFor another, I feel as though
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the Hungry children were too easy to corral at the end.Finally, and most glaring IMO,
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I feel like Sparks would have encoutnered pregnant hungries if they are able to sexually reproduce. I just have a hard time believing this aspect without a little extra narrative support - especially given how often fatal pregnancy is, and how the fungus wrecks so much of the body and shuts down a lot of its systems. Even mentioning a pregnant hungry in the crowd would have helped. I also can't say I'm a fan of the whole "sex is a human instinct" theme. I expected there to be adult hungries like Melanie that showed up later, if they specified that only the kids were the unique ones earlier I somehow missed it.Either way, I definitely recommend this even if I feel some elements could have been treated with a bit more care- which is about what I would say about his work on the X-Men, as well.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Car accident
reddeddy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Eating disorder, and Grief
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny