Reviews tagging 'War'

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

13 reviews

coethedragon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: War

joanna_banana's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

3.0

I listened to this with my 11 year old daughter. I enjoyed the story and the statements on gender identity and being who you truly are, fully. The writing wasn’t the best we’ve read and the story lacked some creativity in parts. Felt like they had a statement to make (an important one) and constructed a narrative around it instead of having a compelling story they wove commentary into. So I guess it felt stilted at times. 5th or 6th grade readers would enjoy it and hopefully continue a conversation about standing up for yourself, who you are, and what you believe in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beforemyway's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The story moved too quickly through the character building.  I had to use my experience with other stories to fill in the gaps.  It often felt like an abridged book, where they removed the parts that draw you in, help make the characters come alive, make the relationships believable.  Despite that, the story did make me cry, and laugh.  I enjoyed it, and do plan to read book 2.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, and War

The book opens with a warning from the author. As an adult, this book themes and descriptions did not seam graphic or over the top. But the authors gentle warning to young readers should be taken seriously.

btg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring fast-paced

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

4.75

A magnificent queer, found family allegory, featuring loveable characters and a fight against tyranny. This is a surprisingly heavy fantasy but absolutely realistic and addicting; I checked the sequel out of the library right away. If you're a fan of Nimona, you're going to enjoy this book. Bonus points to the author for Callie's absolutely raw, quotable lines about the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief

Minor: War

The whole book is a metaphor for homophobia/transphobia, at the same time as featuring actual transphobia from the horribly cisnormative environment of Helston. The main character is repeatedly misgendered/deadnamed and the gender binary is applied to all characters in a blunt, strict degree. Three primary characters are heavily emotionally and two are physically abused, the effects of (and occasionally a toned down version of the acts themselves) are noted by the viewpoint character onscreen. There is a happy ending in this regard. The main character is confined to their room for a good portion of the narrative. A major and two secondary characters both grieve two characters throughout the events of the book. It should be additionally noted that this is NOT a cozy fantasy, and there is a fair amount of violent fighting where punches about the characters' risk are not pulled. The backstory of the world features an active war against nearby (rebels? people who rightfully feel that Helston should no longer stand given how horrifically oppressive it is?). It's handled in an incredibly nuanced way, but it influences the fears of the populace and impacts the narrative.

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

Sir Callie is the sort of book that you wish middle-schoolers got the chance to read when you were growing up. Callie, a non-binary child who wants to grow up to be a knight like their father, travels to Helston, the centre of their nation. There, they discover that their two dads and their accepting commune are very different from the rest of the world, where everyone is expected to fit into two gendered boxes (boys become knights, girls become magicians) and a bigoted chancellor rules instead of the Crown Prince. A harrowing read as you worry for Callie and the small group of friends they collect as they challenge the encroaching evil of the witch Alis and the bigotry in the city walls. Excited to read book two!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

In a chapter, Callie gets period cramps and describes the dysphoria that comes with that.

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Blood, and War

literelli's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: War

Migendering, knight battles

anna_wa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Violence

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

A lovely middle grade fantasy that's all about finding yourself, being true to yourself, and fighting for those that are different from the norm. Callie is such a great main character, and they are not afriad to jump into the fray, especially if they see an injustice happening. They fight for what's right, and have acquired some great friends along the way.

The pacing was pretty good for this one, as well as the world building. My only complaint is the details about the outside force attacking Helston seemed a little fuzzy, but since it semes like this is the first book in a series, there's time to expand on that in later books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Dysphoria

Minor: Child death, Death, and War

katebrownreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, and Dysphoria

Minor: Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and War