A review by maggers94
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

This was almost a DNF. I finished through shear force of will. I didn’t enjoy this at all, either reading or listening. The characters are uninteresting, the plot disjointed, and the writing and its tone feels extremely juvenile. It’s like it’s going for whimsy, but just falling so, so short. It feels like it wants to be both sci-fi and fantasy, but leans into neither, and the lack of world building for either makes it feel out of place in the world it’s painting. It’s the equivalent of playing pretend with a child and they tell you, okay, I’m a witch now, and you’re just expected to go with it. There would be so much potential if it didn’t time jump and instead followed Laurence and Patricia at their specialized schools, but the plot being a dude showing up and saying Patricia’s going to a special witch school (which is so cheesily set-up to begin with) and then immediately just jumping years into the future is just so ??? .