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grets_reads'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death
Minor: Murder, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
cobhlaith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Minor: Fatphobia
directorpurry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Fatphobia
sueog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Violence and Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Also, the book itself didn't make me cry, but the introduction did.
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Fatphobia, and Racism
Minor: Torture, Excrement, and Xenophobia
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Xenophobia, Classism, Ableism, Fatphobia, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death
sreddous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't know how Terry Pratchett does it. This book is, all at the same time, spit-your-drink-out hilarious, tense, haunting, beautiful, poetic. I found myself laughing out loud and reading descriptions out to people in other rooms, I found myself muttering "oh dang!" at some of the twists and character reveals, I found myself chewing my lip in anxiety.
It's a take on the myth of Death that I haven't seen before. The plot is easy enough to follow and IMO is perfectly-paced, not too fast, not too slow. The descriptions of each character, each location, each process tell the reader exactly what they need to know in extremely clever ways. "Show, don't tell," is a sometimes hard rule to follow as a writer. "Immerse, don't show," is something that Terry Pratchett is uniquely a genius about, and holy crap, does this book really put that talent center-stage.
The characters' motivations are consistent and realistic even in this place where space and time don't matter. Death can be a cruel master. He doesn't understand humans and emotions and "why", so therefore, there are times he's setting Mort up for failure. Therefore, the stakes are always super high. Mort can be a bit unlikable sometimes and say and do some sketchy things but -- yeah, what would I do in his shoes? It's so easy to get completely immersed in this drama, this wonder, this tension.
For this story specifically, I don't love the fat jokes that pop up here and there, and there's some not-insanely-graphic-but-still depictions of animal abuse and death, so heads up if that can be upsetting to you. But those aren't too over-reaching. Can't wait to keep reading more Discworld books in general but definitely the Grim Reaper-related ones.
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Fatphobia and Animal cruelty
kagebrain'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? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Fatphobia
blymanor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Death
Minor: Confinement, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Animal death, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
sockandkey'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
One of the main characters is frequently put down by the narrator for being fat/plus-size. There are caricatures of Middle-Eastern people who appear at least twice, but are not very relevant to the overarching plot.