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ampharos906's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
indieandajean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Alcohol, Murder, Death, Animal death, Kidnapping, Sexism, Mental illness, and Violence
saltycoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Bullying, and Child death
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism
Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body shaming, Confinement, Drug use, Fatphobia, Torture, and Cursing
jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death
miriam_mal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Minor: Death and Animal death
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Auditors want to disrupt humanity and to do this, they employ an assassin to kill the Hogfather. But when their plan goes awry, Death steps in to take up the mantle and make sure everyone receives their presents on Hogswatch night. As he travels around the world, his granddaughter Susan is pulled in to help figure out what is happening and how it can be stopped.
Like all of the Discworld books, 'Hogfather' is infused with wit and heart in equal measure. I love the premise of Death having to take over the job of who is essentially the Discworld version of Santa Claus. Where this book fell flat for me was in the middle section. The beginning was engaging and the ending had a lot to say about how humans use belief and the purpose that folklore holds in our lives. The middle was unfortunately a huge slog. I think this story is hurt by the number of perspectives we are jumping frantically between. We follow multiple different characters (at least 4 at a time if not more) and these sections take up only a few pages before we are hurtled along to the next piece. This made the story feel somewhat jumbled and we never spend enough time with one plotline for it to fully feel fleshed out. This is really unfortunate because the story points and the larger pieces that Pratchett is musing on are really interesting and his commentary makes you think.
The ending did save it for me in some respects but it was a lot to get through to get there. I love the ultimate message of this story and what it has to say about belief and the stories that humans tell themselves. This is also the first Discworld book that I've read out of order so I wonder if that had any part in why it was a little bit less enjoyable for me. I will definitely be going back to reading in order after this experience.
I hope to return to this book in the future around the holidays and potentially to check out the adaptation. I wouldn't recommend this as a first experience with Discworld but I do feel that it plays an important part in the wider story (at least as I can see so far).
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Animal death, Alcohol, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping