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fraeyalise'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? Yes
5.0
This book will stay with me for a long time. It was very detailed and long winded, but the details could not be cut without substantially changing the story and making it worse.
Everything builds so slowly, it moves like a thunderstorm.
The ending made me cry, all my feelings are very complicated about it, but I am happy with the ending and how everything wrapped up.
I'm so grateful that we, the Readers, got to see the entire story with all the parts.
I was a bit intimidated by this book because of the length, but I am so glad I found the courage to begin it. What a world. What a story.
Graphic: Kidnapping and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, and War
In a book set in the 1800s England during the Napoleonic Wars with one of the main characters being a Fairy with no regard for human life, there is a fair amount of horrors that come with it. Also in a book with over 1000 pages, there's no way to have a story without some potentially triggering content. I will say Clarke does an excellent job of talking about sensitive topics, and mentions of some of the more horrible things, while blunt on purpose, are thankfully brief.adverb17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Blood, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Fatphobia and Slavery
amsswim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
For lovers of magical fantasy and characters with significant interpersonal relationship issues, this is the books for you. Love the footnotes and constant character pov rotation.
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
szuum'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Misogyny and Slavery
beautifulminutiae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Slavery
luly_sc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Slavery
Minor: Violence
robin_reads's review against another edition
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, War, and Classism
jehansflowers's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
my primary criticism is this: couldve been gayer
12/27/22 edit: didnt put a star rating on it before, but its getting 5 bc i still think about this book at least once a week
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Murder, and Colonisation
afion's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, War, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Slavery, Antisemitism, and Colonisation
Minor: Incest and Self harm
btrz7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
To start with, the first two characters we are introduced to in the book, who take the spotlight and get a lot of build up in the beginning section, are minor characters. You are reading and reading and thinking "Are these Norrel and Strange? Will they be them? Are we going to get the whole story from their perspective then? Are they main characters?" and the answer to all of them is "NO". It feels like a lot of effort to put in two minor characters who will have maybe a couple of brief passages and minor influence in the big plot of the book. Then, we are introduced to one of the title characters way late in the book. After a brief introduction, said character is then ignored for some more chapters before then having page time as a main character. Again, some chapters and some effort is put into a few characters that will only be relevant for a brief moment in time, or not at all - some are somewhat built up and then completely forgotten by the end of the book, and again you think "why?" What was the point of introducing a character, giving them some flesh and then never even completing their story? You get the point.
None of the two main characters is particularly likeable, but I'm sure that's intentional, and for the tone of alternate history book that this takes, it works well enough; although I would prefer it if the interpersonal relationships between characters were a bit more believable. A certain plot point hinges on that and I don't think I was convinced.
In general, I did enjoy the plot, just felt like some trimming was needed. I do recommend the TV adaptation, as it focuses on the essential and makes the characters seem more human.
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, and Classism