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adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book took a different path than I expected. It was a little too naive and sweet for me. Once I figured this out, it became sort of predictable. But I did highlight many of Arthur’s quotes, and I loved watching Linus grow into his own strong, outspoken self.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Xenophobia
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Child abuse
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
V. E. Schwab described this book like getting wrapped in a warm, gay blanket, and going into this book it was exactly what I needed. It was warm, it was comforting, it was jarring, it was uncomfortable, it was like lying on a cloud or dancing with rainbows. It was so vibrant. The shift from the scenes in the city to the scenes in Marsyas felt like switching from black and white to a world of technicolour. The character creation was beautiful, and watching them blossom over the course of the book felt like I was watching something wonderful happening before my very eyes.
I don’t feel like I can give this book a more solid review. It was perfect. It was a feeling more than a thought. I loved every moment of it.
I don’t feel like I can give this book a more solid review. It was perfect. It was a feeling more than a thought. I loved every moment of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Abandonment
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just a great book. It’s well written, many lines read like poetry, but also heart wrenching and made me ugly cry. So good, lovable, characters with faults and quirks. Makes you feel like you experience it with the characters with the captivating imagery used.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Homophobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(As I was not aware, at the time of reading, of the quite horrifying implications of taking genocide on Native American peoples as inspiration about such a rather light-hearted story, this fact is not taken into consideration in my review.)
This book was quite slow and seemed to drag on, but it also seemed realistic. Linus is a man used to routine and a monotonous life. That this might be mirrored in his recountings makes sense. Not having read any other of Klune's works, I cannot say whether this is intentional or not. It also seemed to easy at times: There is a village that hates everyone from the island. But do not worry, they just need to talk to them to understand that they are normal people, too, though they might look different, and voilà - wide-spread acceptance! Linus holds the power of suggesting doing things differently or at all and it all working out in the end as if by magic.
It is great to see Linus become aware of the systematic unfairness of the system he's working in and then actively see him take a stance against it. I would have prefered it if it went beyonda brief reveal that he took all files to a reporter to reveal how bad the system is à la wikileaks , but I understand that this is not a story about fighting against a discriminatory system, it's a story about two men meeting and falling in love. The intrigue behind Arthur's identity draws you in and makes you guess along.
Overall, though I had wished for a faster pace, I quite enjoyed this book.
This book was quite slow and seemed to drag on, but it also seemed realistic. Linus is a man used to routine and a monotonous life. That this might be mirrored in his recountings makes sense. Not having read any other of Klune's works, I cannot say whether this is intentional or not. It also seemed to easy at times: There is a village that hates everyone from the island. But do not worry, they just need to talk to them to understand that they are normal people, too, though they might look different, and voilà - wide-spread acceptance! Linus holds the power of suggesting doing things differently or at all and it all working out in the end as if by magic.
It is great to see Linus become aware of the systematic unfairness of the system he's working in and then actively see him take a stance against it. I would have prefered it if it went beyond
Overall, though I had wished for a faster pace, I quite enjoyed this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Religious bigotry
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was truly a wonderful, lovely, heartwarming book and I did shed a few tears at the end! I read it from the 23rd-26th of Feb and was instantly amazed and relieved that the author - TJ Klune - can write. As in, can write wonderfully. This book is going in my dymocks challenge checklist for ‘book with 5+ words in the title’. The title was perfect and somehow summed up the whole book very well. I was reading the book right up until I had to leave home and I had about 10 pages left, and when i got home i immediately finished it because I had to know what happened. I absolutely loved all the main characters, they were written so well with so much depth and I rooted for them a lot. It was just so well written, I felt what Linus felt. It’s one of the only books I’ve ever read where I didn’t care that the ending was predictable. I was also gripped when tense moments came about such as arthur taking linus down to the cellar, linus fighting with Upper management and linus returning to the island . The twist that arthur was a phoenix that had abused in this orphanage was sad and interesting but wasn’t as shocking as some other twists i’ve read. Obviously loved the epilogue that was super cute. None of the book was cheesy at all, it was genuinely so wonderful. This book was all over booktok and so it was really hyped up for me and it was well worth it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
really loved this one, but found out after reading that the author might be problematic? this might be a book to steer clear of/avoid supporting, but i also should read more before forming an opinion. disappointing, to say the least :/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse