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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Bullying, Transphobia
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Transphobia
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
DNF at 54% because I wanted to like this so much but the damn thing won't end.
I couldn't get into the world building, some characters motivations felt really inconsistent, and things would happen in a way that put everything on the same level of importance so none of it mattered. I wanted to read about a trans witch hiding her identity to join this coven and save the dying trees, but it needed a few more rounds of editing or something.
Like, how can you have one characters saying:
"Some magicians serve magic. Some, like the blighters, I presume, force magic to serve them. The Order of the Vine does neither. Magic is neither our master nor our servant. We let it flow, and we work with it to do what we feel needs done. Magic runs free, throughout the world, for anyone to use. Blighters put it under lock and key."
And then someone else writing:
"I guess is probably said that on the envelope, above the super cool seal of the Knights of the King's Tower."
So while it's not the worst writing I've encountered, the best I could hope for with this book would be 3 stars, and at this point I just don't trust the plot to get me there.
I couldn't get into the world building, some characters motivations felt really inconsistent, and things would happen in a way that put everything on the same level of importance so none of it mattered. I wanted to read about a trans witch hiding her identity to join this coven and save the dying trees, but it needed a few more rounds of editing or something.
Like, how can you have one characters saying:
"Some magicians serve magic. Some, like the blighters, I presume, force magic to serve them. The Order of the Vine does neither. Magic is neither our master nor our servant. We let it flow, and we work with it to do what we feel needs done. Magic runs free, throughout the world, for anyone to use. Blighters put it under lock and key."
And then someone else writing:
"I guess is probably said that on the envelope, above the super cool seal of the Knights of the King's Tower."
So while it's not the worst writing I've encountered, the best I could hope for with this book would be 3 stars, and at this point I just don't trust the plot to get me there.
Evaluating The Sapling Cage as a piece of YA fiction, it gets a 3 from me. I think it does what it set out to do, and thinking of it as YA retroactively makes a lot of my problems with it stop mattering. If I had read this book ~a decade ago, I probably would have liked it. But it's very much not for me today, and if I had known it was probably targeted at younger readers, I would have just skipped it.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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:
No
adventurous
medium-paced