Scan barcode
bookish_bry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really enjoyed the choice of having a narrator that was intentionally hiding her thoughts from the reader for an in universe reason. That was very fun.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Cancer and Car accident
This story is very dark. A character is burnt to death in some detail. A resurrection is done which involves a character putting their mouth on a corpse magots and all.chrisljm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The best part of the book, for me, was the resolution to the mystery of what happened to Father. It seemed like a great conclusion, only to find out I still had ~150 pages left. I know part of the premise is Carolyn finding her humanity again, but since that arch is set after the climax of finding out about Father, the juxtaposition in tone of these two parts seemed very strange to me and made me enjoy the last quarter a lot less.
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Confinement, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gun violence, War, Torture, Suicide, Rape, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Minor: Slavery, Car accident, and Cancer
joe_dmh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Animal death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body horror, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, Racism, Gore, Incest, Gun violence, and Grief
mondovertigo's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Rape, Murder, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
thebakersbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
First, I'd like to say that while I didn't especially enjoy Middlegame due to the complexity of the plot structure and some of the terminology/jargon that I just didn't understand, I do trust McGuire to largely avoid including ableism, fatphobia, queerphobia, and racism in her books. Scott Hawkins? Not so much. This book was everything that didn't appeal to me about Middlegame with the additions of ableist terminology throughout, completely unnecessary homophobia by some characters, and a fair bit of mild fatphobia and racism as well. There were no openly queer characters in this book, and honestly, thank goodness for that. I don't want this author writing my community.
I'm aware that the content of a book and the things fictional characters do and say don't necessarily represent the views of the author. However, things like describing an Indian man's skin as "caramel colored"; making it so the only fat characters are bit roles, criminals, and/or die immediately; and having (unsympathetic) characters spew graphic homophobia? Those are authorial choices. And those were only a handful of examples; I could give several more in each category.
As I'm writing this, I actually knocked my rating down a star because this was a long book and I forgot, by the time I was through with it, how angry the things mentioned above had made me. I'm also having a hard time coming up with redeeming facts about the story, characters, etc.; I suppose the plot's complexity could interest some readers, as well as the amoral/villain-arc main character who was nevertheless somewhat sympathetic. The atmosphere and worldbuilding left a lot to be desired. I feel like a lot of the "magic" system was handwaved using obscure terminology, but it didn't seem consistent within itself. Basically, this felt like fantasy by an author who dislikes the fantasy genre and who used jargon and elision to avoid developing the setting well.
If you got this far into my review, you've probably guessed that I do not recommend this book. I'd also be reluctant to read anything else by this author based on the range of baked-in bigotries I covered above. Also, do male authors know that having a female character get raped isn't the only way of giving her trauma and a motivation for revenge? Just wondering. Anyway, go read Middlegame if you haven't, but look elsewhere for more of that vibe if you end up enjoying it.
Content notes: gore and violence; rape; child abduction and child abuse; violent homophobia and homophobic slurs; mention of wartime violence against civilians; suicide by hanging, poison, and self-immolation; mild cannibalism; animal death and graphic gore involving a dead dog
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Child abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Ableism
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, and Rape
ryn_bow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Drug use, Child death, Suicide, Murder, Animal death, Torture, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Rape
the_one_krissy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's a whole bunch of crazy, though. Crazy but the kind of crazy that keeps your eyes glued to the page. Be warned though, this book is entertaining but also stuffed to the brim with sick and twisted cruel things, and those who are particularly sensitive to cruelty against children might want to skip this one altogether. It's very brutal in places.
The characters of this book I really enjoyed, even if some of them - okay, most of them - are totally bonkers. Erwin was my favourite, but the whole cast was excellent. Overall, this book really gripped me and was very close to a five-star read... I'm not even sure what it is that I felt was missing. Some elusive little spark, maybe, that tips the scale from an excellent read to a sublime one. Still, this was an absolutely wonderful book I enjoyed with mixed feelings of slack-jawed admiration and abject horror.
You underestimate linguists and librarians at your own peril. Just saying.
And I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open when this author publishes something new.
Graphic: Child abuse and Child death
Moderate: Violence, Torture, and Gore
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, and Car accident
bearish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Child death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and War
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
But overall the book was okay. Super slow going, but the idea was good. I understand needing quite a bit of the back stories leading up to the present time now that I've finished it, but while reading, it made the story drag on a little. It also kind of feels like a couple ideas were thrown together that didn't get fully fleshed out, but the main thing of the book is
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, Violence, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Kidnapping, Suicide, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Sexism
upperjackpain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit
Minor: Incest and Police brutality