Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Amulet of Samarkand

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

13 reviews

soph22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I should have loved this, it had all the right elements to be a hit, but something about it just didn’t grab me. It’s not bad my any means, just not something I’m rushing to read the rest of the series because of.

Content Warnings

alexschmidt34's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

A solid 3 star book. I did find myself skimming a lot of the plot because it went on for a bit too long sometimes. Also the use of snarky in-character footnotes by Bartimeus was good when used appropriately but their overall use throughout the book was a bit excessive.

Re-reading this now, I think I'm a bit too old to properly enjoy this book fully but this would be a good book for a teen who wanted to get into reading darker books without smut or overtly graphic violence.

Content Warnings

ptork66's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny fast-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

lyricallit's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed the ride! Very different magic system, and Bartimaeus 's footnotes are amusing and digestible way to understand it. I don't find Nathaniel all that endearing but Bartimaeus is a snarky and clever delight.

I feel bad for Stroud; the publishing industry did him dirty on this. This book gets shelved as a middle grade novel, and it's definitely not a middle grade book. ONE of the two protagonists is a 12 year old boy, but the other is a centuries-old djinni! The structure uses footnotes, the front cover creeped out my own young readers, it's quite long for the age group, and at least one death happens on page, not even including the intensely chaotic "final boss" scene. This is definitely more YA, possibly even adult, fiction.

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny tense medium-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

Bartimaeus is a djinni, enslaved by apprentice magician Nathaniel for the purpose of revenge against a magician who bullied him. When it turns out that the titular amulet is more than just a valuable possession, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus find themselves tangled in a plot against the government itself.

The worldbuilding makes it clear that magicians have been around for a very long time, with Nathaniel’s home of London being merely the most recent epicenter of magic and magical power. It shows the classism and social stratification which is fueled and perpetuated by magicians through their enslavement of summoned entities. It’s also a system which relies on controlling and conditioning children to think of being a magician and growing up to serve the British government as the only good and worthwhile way to exist, fostering a deep loathing and contempt for commoners (non-magicians). Bartimaeus never lets it be forgotten that his very corporeal existence is an unwanted and physically painful condition of his slavery, that as much as he may or may not develop a rapport with Nathaniel, their relationship is an inherently unequal one which is predicated on Nathaniel summoning Bartimaeus against his will. He's is a witty and engaging narrator, with timely asides to explain various worldbuilding details in a sardonic manner. The narrative alternates between Bartimaeus’s commentary and a third-person view of Nathaniel’s perspective in the past and present.

This is a solid start to the trilogy, setting up things which the later books will build upon.

Content Warnings

avsdhpn's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny 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? No

4.0

Another strangely addictive read. The story of a djinn and an apprentice magician as they snark back and forth while trying to uncover the mysteries surrounding the named amulet and the magician who has it in their possession. The narrative is split between a third person chapters that focus on Nathaniel and first person chapters from the perspective of Bartimaeus, complete with all his witty self-referential footnotes. Bartimaeus as a character is what makes the book hard to put down.

Very good world building. This almost feels like a cynical answer to Rowling's Harry Potter Universe where Magicians rule over "commoners" (or non-magical folk) in an almost mundane dystopia. Unwanted children are sold to the government to be trained as apprentices to begrudging masters. Magic is not innate to the caster; rather, it takes practice and knowledge to summon demonic spirits to do one's bidding and weave webs of spells to ensure the entities don't double cross them.

Content Warnings