Reviews

Castle on the River Vistula by Michelle Tea

josb's review against another edition

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4.0

The last book of the series so my score reflects the book and the series as a whole.

I feel like the book was a little too short to expand on some points, making the side characters feel a little wooden and the ending a little rushed. I have a bunch of questions that I would have loved answered within the narrative especially with the epilogue scene.

While the magic system seemed to be a bit OP, I did not find it any more off than a typical preteen YA.

What kept me going was the unique way Tea narrated this series. Everything sounds low-key gross. This was not meant to be a beautiful, sterile, chosen-one journey to defeat evil, where dirt and grime only exist in hidden alleyways beside dumpsters. It was messy and disgusting I was here for it.

rainbowpatootie's review against another edition

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

3.25

neurodivengeance's review against another edition

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4.0

I wasn't really here for a lot of this. I think part of the issue was it was a long time between reading the first two and reading this, so I kept worrying about not remembering things properly, and/or not remembering things properly, or understanding all the parts of how Sophie came to be where she was in the narrative. But I think also I have a problem with final books in trilogies that mean a lot to me - I didn't enjoy The Amber Spyglass nearly as much as its predecessors and even though it was objectively a worse book, it was also because I didn't want to say goodbye to something I really really valued ... so I valued it less. I wonder if that happened here. I guess I'll have to reread the whole thing in the future to see. (I realise this is a review of my mental state rather than the book but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that's the kind of shit that happens a lot around here.)

steps's review

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

3.0

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