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marissab's review
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
house_of_hannah's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Going into the last 20 pages I thought I was going to rate this a 3.5, because although it's taken some thought and re-reading, I was enjoying the story. However, I do not understand this ending. I just cannot figure out what happened here, what was going on, and why it was significant.
There are some interesting scenes, and I liked the flashback aspect as well. The older characters don't quite seem their ages though, and I ended up viewing everyone as the same age group even though that was not the case. The interconnection of their stories is probably the best part of the book, but it comes together in an unsatisfying way since I just cannot understand the end.
Could have used more mongoose scenes.
There are some interesting scenes, and I liked the flashback aspect as well. The older characters don't quite seem their ages though, and I ended up viewing everyone as the same age group even though that was not the case. The interconnection of their stories is probably the best part of the book, but it comes together in an unsatisfying way since I just cannot understand the end.
Could have used more mongoose scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content
corar's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
emma_bean's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
A very intriguing read that will stick with me for a long time. This book would hold up well to thorough analysis.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
Minor: Animal death
sunnydale's review
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Not my favorite of her books that I've read, but still a solid read that left me thinking for a long time after.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Gun violence
Animal death details:menomica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
Gun to my head I have no idea what this book was abt. To quote heystaceykay's review:
I suppose I am too pedestrian a reader to have truly grasped what this novel was trying to say to me. […] If I had understood, I feel as if it would have
been enjoyable.
As it stands, I did like the mongooses.
To be fair, I read this at like midnight, half-asleep and half just not paying attention in general. I can’t tell if I wasn’t paying enough attention or if the writing was genuinely bad. It was definitely hectic as hell and it interrupted its own flow regularly.
I might try rereading this book sometime later, to see if it is actually good and I was just too busy fighting to keep my eyes open, or if of the writing/story was just genuinely bad.
I might try rereading this book sometime later, to see if it is actually good and I was just too busy fighting to keep my eyes open, or if of the writing/story was just genuinely bad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
cheye13's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I need to reread this. Immediately. I have no clue what this was.
Like with Gingerbread, I found myself reeling trying to follow the frame structure and construct a linear timeline, but because it's written with such whimsy and spirit, I relished the challenge. This one clips right along – while I was trying to decipher one metaphor or meaningful event, we'd popped on to the next one. I do really think there's something here – about memory, personhood, legend... something. But it slipped through my fingers on this first read.
And yet it was just so fun and frightening and funny (Otis's narration made me laugh out loud more than once) that once I finished it, I wanted to flip right back to the beginning.
Like with Gingerbread, I found myself reeling trying to follow the frame structure and construct a linear timeline, but because it's written with such whimsy and spirit, I relished the challenge. This one clips right along – while I was trying to decipher one metaphor or meaningful event, we'd popped on to the next one. I do really think there's something here – about memory, personhood, legend... something. But it slipped through my fingers on this first read.
And yet it was just so fun and frightening and funny (Otis's narration made me laugh out loud more than once) that once I finished it, I wanted to flip right back to the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Mental illness and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
content warnings are approximations, as it's hard to separate literal from figurative. animal death cw for brief descriptions of/about taxidermy.leah_alexandra's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
This book did very little for me. There just wasn't enough substance to keep me going along with the more whimsical/fantastical elements. A book like this, that's slightly untethered from reality, still needs to have actual stakes, but this one did not. I was looking for something a little more sour or haunting beneath the surface. This was kind of reminiscent of an Italo Calvino story, but without the heft. The ideas coming into play at the end were just too little, too late.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
blackrabbitrun's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This book feels like it's building towards something breathtaking, a spectacular conclusion to a jigsaw-puzzle plot full of hints of what's to come... and then it swerves left to a dead-end, and doesn't really resolve any of those brilliant things. I mean... it isn't bad, but the buildup is so very high to fall from.
Would not recommend to people with any tendency toward psychosis or otherwise doubting the evidence of their senses.
Would not recommend to people with any tendency toward psychosis or otherwise doubting the evidence of their senses.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness
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