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euphemiajo's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Alcohol
mothmania'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
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, and Death
Minor: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Classism, Drug use, and Pregnancy
judassilver's review against another edition
Graphic: Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Miscarriage
lunep'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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Rape, Colonisation, Cursing, and Alcohol
kbz_22'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
5.0
This book was like a nostalgia trip for me. It reached into my childhood dreams/fantasies and brought them to life. It's magical in that way.
The characters, especially Lady Trent, just got me right in the feels. Through her, I got to live this life of adventure, curiosity, and pure intellectual passion. She's witty, determined, and her thirst for knowledge is something I really admired.
But here's the coolest part - the format of the book. It's like reading a personal journal mixed with a textbook, and it even has these charming illustrations and chapter overviews. You feel like you're right there with Lady Trent on her scientific quests.
Marie Brennan's storytelling is top-notch. I couldn't put it down, seriously. It's not just a book; it's this incredible journey into a world of wonder and discovery. If you ever want to rekindle that sense of awe and adventure, this one's a must-read.
Minor: Death, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Gore, and Miscarriage
readandfindout's review against another edition
4.0
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Classism, and Miscarriage
Minor: Pregnancy
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Classism, Grief, and Miscarriage
ophycore's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
kalira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry
squinnittowinit'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? No
3.5
It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nation
Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Death
Minor: Colonisation, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Medical content, Grief, and Murder