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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"Weirdness is value neutral."
All the Birbs in the Sky is an ambitious book with a unique premise that attempts to blend sci-fi and fantasy, but it fails to make it past the idea phase. I found the first third to be interesting as a super genius and witch befriended each other, I enjoyed their dynamic and how they learned about their abilities. The rest of the book felt like a completely different story with the apocalyptic focus that comes to sudden, giving whiplash. The characters are unmemorable, peaking in interest at the beginning of their arcs but devolving into blandness after the time jump. The prose is also bland but tries (and fails) to be poetic and profound.
And on the genre blend, sci-fi and fantasy have blurred lines between them, but to make the contradiction work you have to define what makes them so different. If your sci-fi has no basis in some sort of real theoretical science or a scientific thought experiment, then what makes it different from fantasy? It's the difference between Star Wars and Interstellar and Jurassic Park; the fantasy elements of Star Wars blend with the sci-fi because they are equally as plausible, but fantasy elements would have felt out of place in Interstellar since it has a basis in actual science and they'd be out of place in Jurassic Park because that's based in a scientific thought experiment.
This book would have been more interesting as a concept if it was more grounded sci-fi along with magic, but I don't see what actually makes Laurence's super-genius different from Patricia's witchcraft on a genre level. What makes this genre blend different from most superhero media where magic and this flavor of sci-fi coexist? Patricia's magic was a little more interesting. It was nature itself and I like the idea that you don't control magic/nature you coexist with it.
All the Birbs in the Sky is an ambitious book with a unique premise that attempts to blend sci-fi and fantasy, but it fails to make it past the idea phase. I found the first third to be interesting as a super genius and witch befriended each other, I enjoyed their dynamic and how they learned about their abilities. The rest of the book felt like a completely different story with the apocalyptic focus that comes to sudden, giving whiplash. The characters are unmemorable, peaking in interest at the beginning of their arcs but devolving into blandness after the time jump. The prose is also bland but tries (and fails) to be poetic and profound.
And on the genre blend, sci-fi and fantasy have blurred lines between them, but to make the contradiction work you have to define what makes them so different. If your sci-fi has no basis in some sort of real theoretical science or a scientific thought experiment, then what makes it different from fantasy? It's the difference between Star Wars and Interstellar and Jurassic Park; the fantasy elements of Star Wars blend with the sci-fi because they are equally as plausible, but fantasy elements would have felt out of place in Interstellar since it has a basis in actual science and they'd be out of place in Jurassic Park because that's based in a scientific thought experiment.
This book would have been more interesting as a concept if it was more grounded sci-fi along with magic, but I don't see what actually makes Laurence's super-genius different from Patricia's witchcraft on a genre level. What makes this genre blend different from most superhero media where magic and this flavor of sci-fi coexist? Patricia's magic was a little more interesting. It was nature itself and I like the idea that you don't control magic/nature you coexist with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Bullying
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, War, and Violence
mysterymeenah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
Minor: War and Violence
ehmannky's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A slightly absurdist book following two young people dealing with loneliness and the trials and tribulations of becoming an adult and learning about being connected and communication. And one just happens to be a witch and one is a big of a mad scientist who both accidentally find themselves working for groups with eco-fascist bents. I thought that the plot ended up being a bit thin at the end, but I thought the character build up and the relationship between Patricia and Laurence made this a really enjoyable and delightful read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death, Murder, Violence, and War
littlelizzieborden's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Murder, Animal death, Death, and Violence
walkie_check's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Body horror, Ableism, Deadnaming, and Abandonment
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Gore, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Animal cruelty and Death of parent
shadestate's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book was hard to read. So much bullying. So many technocentered decisions fucking up the environment even more. In many ways, it was too real. Including a Muskrat billionaire treating 80% of humanity and all of the other life on earth as expandable.
Got through the book by thinking of it as a horror novel. Would not recommend it to friends, as most of us are neurodivergent with a past of bullying, and don’t need to relive that hell again.
Got through the book by thinking of it as a horror novel. Would not recommend it to friends, as most of us are neurodivergent with a past of bullying, and don’t need to relive that hell again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Bullying
Minor: Forced institutionalization
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
antimony's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i LOVED the beginning of this book. the first 2 parts were so fun. the writing style...the characters...the series of events..... like for example the school. which reminded me of the certain brand of middle grade books i used to love. i really enjoyed every time it was mentioned that all the school cared about was memorization bc it felt just like the humor in some kids' book set in an ambiguous time period where adventure runs rampant and school is soul-sucking. i adored page 45, where we first see the pov of theodolphous rose. the line (which im writing from memory, so bear with me when it isn't accurate) "in fact, patricia had been right about the man. his name was theodolphous rose, and he was a member of the nameless order of assassins." was just SO FUN.
things went downhill from there.
part 3. was not very good. it started strong, though not as strong as the first two parts. and it was ok. nice to see where the characters ended up. or something. but then they started to be a tad annoying, and then the timeskips began. these timeskips drove me mad. it was like we skipped the most convenient times to make things happen without having to be explained. like she wanted laurence and patricia to get together despite not really having chemistry? skip a few weeks and cut to them having sex (speaking of which.....i generally skip sex scenes, so im not really a good source for what's good or bad, but this one was pretty bad). the world is falling apart but you want to skip to the good part where it already has? cool! skip a few months and the collapse is no longer impending and you don't have to write anything actually falling apart. >:\
part 4 was a tad redeemable. things stopped making sense but i liked that laurence told isobel abt magic and lost his voice. this may seem strange of me but idk it was satisfyinf. i feel like some of the events were strung together nonsensically, and things happened to happen but they didn't fit together? if that makes any sense.
anyway. very strong start, which descended into something i did not like, which rose up to fizzle out and not quite be good or bad. points for the beginning & the writing bc i do like this style and i also like being nice.
things went downhill from there.
part 3. was not very good. it started strong, though not as strong as the first two parts. and it was ok. nice to see where the characters ended up. or something. but then they started to be a tad annoying, and then the timeskips began. these timeskips drove me mad. it was like we skipped the most convenient times to make things happen without having to be explained. like she wanted laurence and patricia to get together despite not really having chemistry? skip a few weeks and cut to them having sex (speaking of which.....i generally skip sex scenes, so im not really a good source for what's good or bad, but this one was pretty bad). the world is falling apart but you want to skip to the good part where it already has? cool! skip a few months and the collapse is no longer impending and you don't have to write anything actually falling apart. >:\
part 4 was a tad redeemable. things stopped making sense but i liked that
anyway. very strong start, which descended into something i did not like, which rose up to fizzle out and not quite be good or bad. points for the beginning & the writing bc i do like this style and i also like being nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Death
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: War
kimberly28's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
4.0
I ADORED 2/3 less 5 pages of this book.
I think I pretty much hate adult books from the perspective of kids, so that's the first third out. Like I didn't see the twists coming at all when it was connections between the childhood stuff and the adult stuff because I'd closed off the childhood part as just something I'd struggled through and the adult part is the "real" book, which is nonsense.
But also the ending I found extremely rushed and unsatisfying, way too ambiguous. I had no idea how in the world the author was going to bring things in at the end because so much was going on and there were so few pages left! And then it turned out the author didn't know either whoops
But the rest though! I think I'll be recommending this despite the parts I strongly disliked, particularly because the children's-perspective thing might just be a me problem. I was feeling bad that I wasn't reasonably going to be able to give this 5 stars when I was almost at the end because I LOVED it so much, but I had to remember that I struggled so bad through the first part. But then the ending was a letdown so lol I didn't feel so bad. Still, a 4 is a triumph given all that!
I think I pretty much hate adult books from the perspective of kids, so that's the first third out. Like I didn't see the twists coming at all when it was connections between the childhood stuff and the adult stuff because I'd closed off the childhood part as just something I'd struggled through and the adult part is the "real" book, which is nonsense.
But also the ending I found extremely rushed and unsatisfying, way too ambiguous. I had no idea how in the world the author was going to bring things in at the end because so much was going on and there were so few pages left! And then it turned out the author didn't know either whoops
But the rest though! I think I'll be recommending this despite the parts I strongly disliked, particularly because the children's-perspective thing might just be a me problem. I was feeling bad that I wasn't reasonably going to be able to give this 5 stars when I was almost at the end because I LOVED it so much, but I had to remember that I struggled so bad through the first part. But then the ending was a letdown so lol I didn't feel so bad. Still, a 4 is a triumph given all that!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Violence