Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Like A Charm

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

skylarkblue1's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Representations: https://trello.com/c/IxAZRQHp/103-like-a-charm-1-like-a-charm-by-elle-mcnicoll

I am slightly conflicted on this one. While yes, I absolutely love Ellies work and the representation in this was so incredibly authentic and lovely to read - really need a lot more diverse neurodiversity representations <3 - but it does have the one trope I absolutely hate. The "disability is a superpower" trope. However it does still keep true to the thought of "I am still disabled, I do need to work harder than others still" because that trope goes the other way far too often. Most of the time magic with that kind of trope just "cures" a disability, or makes it so that disability is kinda just nulled out by said magic and it's just sad to see because in reality, we don't have magic to just "remove" those disabilities. Seeing that trope become so common - and pushed by so many shitty "advocates" and "charities" that refuse to use the word disability - just makes it feel like we're lesser for not having magic, we're just broken with no hope except for a fantasy.
So yeah, good ending, just gave me anxiety while reading lmaoo

I loved the characters, funnily enough I loved how dysfunctional the family is. It's strangely nice (for me) to read about a family who aren't perfect, who fall out, who even go no-contact. I loved the 2 kids, though I feel like Marley was pretty underused. I wonder if in the sequel more characters get introduced - already feels like a pretty stuffed cast with a lot of underused characters - or if the existing ones will get fleshed out a lot more.

I would love to learn more about the side characters, the world building was really cool. This was quite similar to the Gargoyles book I read recently, but also incredibly different. The use of glamour to be a (pretty explicitly spelt out) metaphor for ND masking was pretty neat, and I honestly really can't wait to see how the magic system and everything gets expanded on in the next one!

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fantasycat's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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xandra_lyn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.0

Such a good story! I really loved how she talked about neurodivergence and it's difficulties, as well as brought out the good aspects of it too.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Ramya. She was often very mean, but by the end she was much kinder. At first I thought that's just how the author was writing her, but I do think it showed character growth. But I'm still not sure. I suppose we'll see in the second if it was growth or just happy ending vibes.

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.21

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booksanddopamine's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I'll read all of Elle McNicoll's books. She writes middle grade in a way that's still engaging and heartfelt reading it as an adult.

I always love an autistic MC I can relate to! And the DCD/dyspraxia representation was fantastic to see.

Although I love magical creatures (which were plentiful here), this book didn't grab me as much as I thought it would. It felt like there were a lot of ideas going on and it got a bit muddled for me, all while being a bit predictable. I also didn't feel a strong connection with the relationships between Ramya and the other characters. That being said, I still enjoyed it and continue to look forward to what the author writes next!

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