pedanther's reviews
347 reviews

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Blood, Outing, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, War, Drug use, Sexism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Addiction, Excrement, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual harassment

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

For the first time, I find myself wishing the "Plot- or character-driven?" question was one of the ones with an "It's complicated" option. These stories are not driven by plot or character, they run on vibes and fun moments - one of them has a seven-year-old credited as the co-author, and it isn't noticeably weirder than the stories that don't. I don't doubt the people who gave it five stars, because I'm sure it's awesome if you're in tune with the vibes, but for myself I enjoyed some of the moments but the only story I really liked as a story was "Abu Gung and the Beanstalk", which has the closest thing to an actual plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Cannibalism

The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Child death, Confinement, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Dementia, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Alcohol, Blood, War, Homophobia, Deportation, and Mental illness

Minor: Excrement, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Bullying

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

Like the first book, this one is okay. I think I'm just not who these books are for.

Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babington Macaulay

medium-paced

3.75

The lays have some striking moments, but also some bits where the sense is clearly playing second fiddle to the meter, and they probably play better to an audience that already knows the stories they're retelling. I didn't care for them on the whole, and was more consistently interested by the author's forewords about the background of the lays than by the lays themselves. I got on better with some of the other poems in the collection that commemorate events from more recent history, possibly because the subject matter is more familiar (and not just, I'm fairly sure, because they're much shorter). "Sermon in a Churchyard" was my favourite, and the one I'm most likely to re-read at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Murder, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and War

Minor: Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Suicide

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Day of the Dead: A Babylon 5 Scriptbook by Neil Gaiman

adventurous lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Murder, and Addiction

Version Control with Git: A Pocket Guide by Ryan Taylor

informative medium-paced

There's a Sea in My Bedroom by Margaret Wild

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

4.0

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Dementia, War, and Homophobia