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biobeetle's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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: Violence and Kidnapping
Moderate: Xenophobia and Blood
axel_p's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Classism, Confinement, Self harm, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
If this is your first time reading a book about fairies, you'll probably like it but there are definitely better books out there. That's not to say this book is bad, however.
Pros
Pros
- The setting was really unexpected, but I really enjoyed it as someone who has spent several holidays in Norway. The author really captured the vibe of a small, insulated Scandinavian town that is distrusting to outsiders.
- On a related note, I really liked Lilja and Margaret. They were a very sweet couple and I'm glad they survived
being taken by fairies . Aud really grew on me as well. - This is definitely a "your mileage may vary" thing, but I liked the use of footnotes to discuss existing academic texts, their authors and their lives.
Cons
- The pacing is a bit all over the place. I felt like it was a very slow start to actually get to the plot it wanted to tell, and then went at haphazard paces when it got there.
- The romance felt really half-baked. Emily felt like she went from hating Wendell's guts to entertaining the idea she liked him very suddenly. This isn't to say I don't like slow burn romances, but I think Emily and Wendell lack the chemistry to pull it off. I'm sure this will get fixed in the next book but I'm not particularly itching to read it.
- I don't really understand what possessed Emily to
chop down the magic tree and free the king. Especially when all signs pointed it to being a very bad idea and she just went "how about I do it anyway?". I think if Emily and Wendell argued over the merits of doing so, with Emily speculating that maybe freeing the king would stop the children from being spoiled, it would have made more sense.
Amusing tangents
- As someone with a queer identity, I always find it unintentionally funny when authors use the word "queer" to mean "strange" when describing abstract or inanimate objects. This book is no exception. Get ready for lots of unexpected queer things!
- I'm definitely inclined to think Emily is autistic - intentionally or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Xenophobia
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