Reviews tagging 'Blood'

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

13 reviews

kmacoz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

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

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

4.0

This is really cute and affirming! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood

arrr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Fun fantasy world in which to challenge gender stereotypes. Supportive family modelling. Wonderful friendships. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

jessicayaun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I wish I'd hopped on this one sooner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood

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

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

bardicbramley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

This book was admittedly light on the fantasy plot. The reader knows there’s a “threat” from within a forest, though exactly of what scale and for what reasons is uncertain. While the book’s ending made it clear that this aspect of the plot will be centred in the sequel, I was certainly expecting a few more events of direct involvement with the threat in THIS instalment, but instead it was left to loom in the background. This made it hard to believe in the stakes associated with this part of the plot, particularly as Callie and their father go through the forest (wherein lies the threat) and emerge relatively unscathed with relatively little effort. 

The above is a fairly significant criticism. However, I couldn’t rate this less than 4.5 stars which I think speaks to the HIGH quality of the rest of the book. The characters are incredibly dynamic, and I mean ALL of them, not just Callie. Every main and side character had an emotional and at times confronting arc, and every character’s development was earned (rather than just a sudden change in character). As a reader you bear witness to the conversations that progressed the characters, the events that shaped their change. It was truly incredibly done. 

The found family element of this book was immaculate. I think some authors think that they’ve achieved this trope simply by having a friend group present in the story, but Symes-Smith clearly knows you have to write this dynamic super carefully to make it believable. Through their writing they convey such intimacy between the characters, both physical and emotional, and once again the reader is privy to the moments which develop and strengthen these bonds. The love that Callie, Nick, and Neil had for one another, and how they extended this to the other children unconditionally, made me feel so warm and happy. 

This story is written in a way that is allegorical, so that modern middle-graders (and other readers) will be able to recognise our own binary, oppressive world in that of Callie’s, and so be encouraged by Callie and their friends to enact change. I also think it’s incredibly important for MGs to see healthy and happy family and friend relationships modelled as they are in this book. I really wish I had had this book growing up, as it puts into words the difficulty of being different in your identity, and strongly asserts how exactly how well you should be treated by those around you. It’s safe to say this made me cry multiple times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: menstruation, capital punishment