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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This is my second time reading this story and even knowing what happens, how it all ends, it still did emotional damage, but in the best way.
I've been thinking about how it feels like a love note or perhaps a magnum opus of appreciation to readers as a whole. It extols the joys and importance of rereading a beloved story. It perfectly encapsulates the escapism aspect that allows people to survive through difficult times when you just need to exist in a world different from your own. There's empathy in the connection to well fleshed out characters. When a story makes you feel something, gut wrenching as it can be, it's done something special.
The message that even if a conclusion is not ideal, even if it didn't turn out the way you expected, it shouldn't be considered a failure. Everyone has different expectations of the end.
The inclusions of myths, and stories being interpreted or manipulated in different ways is one of the many ways it is self-referential/meta. This is also shown as a moral for authors as well. Once something has been written and published you lose control over how it is perceived. You can explain your intentions but everyone will see something different or focus on some minutiae that brings meaning to them that can be vastly different from the author's point of view. With that in mind, I know that there are a lot of fans that might ship certain characters --which honestly I love because that means people care about the characters created and want to imagine them in their own version of possibilities and that is exactly in the spirit of the book-- but if you think that this is a romance, it is not. (Which now that I am reviewing what I have written I did say it was a love story so... Oh well.)
Will likely edit this review as my thoughts process a bit. (For fun - times edited: 2)
I've been thinking about how it feels like a love note or perhaps a magnum opus of appreciation to readers as a whole. It extols the joys and importance of rereading a beloved story. It perfectly encapsulates the escapism aspect that allows people to survive through difficult times when you just need to exist in a world different from your own. There's empathy in the connection to well fleshed out characters. When a story makes you feel something, gut wrenching as it can be, it's done something special.
The message that even if a conclusion is not ideal, even if it didn't turn out the way you expected, it shouldn't be considered a failure. Everyone has different expectations of the end.
The inclusions of myths, and stories being interpreted or manipulated in different ways is one of the many ways it is self-referential/meta. This is also shown as a moral for authors as well. Once something has been written and published you lose control over how it is perceived. You can explain your intentions but everyone will see something different or focus on some minutiae that brings meaning to them that can be vastly different from the author's point of view. With that in mind, I know that there are a lot of fans that might ship certain characters --which honestly I love because that means people care about the characters created and want to imagine them in their own version of possibilities and that is exactly in the spirit of the book-- but if you think that this is a romance, it is not. (Which now that I am reviewing what I have written I did say it was a love story so... Oh well.)
Will likely edit this review as my thoughts process a bit. (For fun - times edited: 2)
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism