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caroline_peacock's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Body horror, and Violence
ladymickbeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I read this after reading Lightlark, Alex Aster’s infamous Young/New Adult novel. Curse of the Night Witch proves that she can either write decently if she tries or that Lightlark didn’t have an editor while Night Witch did.
Positives of this book: good sense of most of the settings, especially Estrelle, the main character’s village; fun adventure; focus on friendships; not a unique premise, necessarily, with the emblems, but the “people get a special talent” aspect was told in a novel way (although I did call emblems “cutie marks” like in My Little Pony” when explaining the book to a friend); I didn’t expect the Night Witch’s motivations, and there is a sacrifice for Tor rather than a convenient ending.
Negatives: there were places that felt very rushed to me.Tor, Engle, and Melda are in Frostflake (silly name) for about fifteen minutes before they leave again, and in the jungle place, we’re basically told by one character “lol yeah I’m basically a werewolf” and that’s the end of that? <\spoiler> Some of the emblems seem super overpowered. I get the super good ones are much more rare than the ones for, say, cooking or strength, but still, it feels like new emblems are introduced whenever the author feels like being dramatic and making someone edgy. Some categories were briefly mentioned, but I would have liked a bit more on establishing what kinds of emblems there are so some of them didn’t feel so randomly thrown in. I also wanted to hear more about what emblems might entail - it’s said several times that a feature of a leadership emblem is a loud voice and people with farsighted have sensitive eyes: I would have liked to know what other features some people have. Can people with singing emblems also mimic sounds well? Can cooking emblems enhance taste or smell to make them better at cooking? I love knowing magic and world mechanics, so everyone might not feel this way, but it’s something I think would have improved the story. There are some other little things that bothered me, but I’m tired of writing this, and those are my main pros and cons.
Positives of this book: good sense of most of the settings, especially Estrelle, the main character’s village; fun adventure; focus on friendships; not a unique premise, necessarily, with the emblems, but the “people get a special talent” aspect was told in a novel way (although I did call emblems “cutie marks” like in My Little Pony” when explaining the book to a friend); I didn’t expect the Night Witch’s motivations, and there is a sacrifice for Tor rather than a convenient ending.
Negatives: there were places that felt very rushed to me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
laffi's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Das ist der mit Abstand fieseste Cliffhanger, den ich kenne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Cursing
Moderate: Violence, Death, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
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