Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Monsters of Rookhaven by Pádraig Kenny

7 reviews

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is a beautiful story full of rich characters. Highly recommend reading 5 of 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Blood

patchy_at_best's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, War, Violence, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

ivygirl1937's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

dustspectre's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I didn't quite realise this was a children's book when I picked it up, but for its' age range I'd say it would be a good read, if fairly scary. It teaches an important lesson about appearances (in that bad people generally don't appear obviously evil), and puts a lot of power in the young protagonists' hands. There is also plenty to say about what death and grief can do to people, explained in a fairly easy-to-follow manner

Minor spoilers below  
I will say the pacing is quite odd - the main villain doesn't even appear until about 3/4 of the way through the book, and some of the characters' arcs seem to be quite rushed, even in the context of this being a story meant for children. 

The final chapter also seems to be very disconnected from the rest of the book? It feels as if it were thrown in completely last minute. It doesn't detract from the rest of the story and its' message, however.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Murder

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Animal death, Death, and Gore

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Vomit, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

katiemack's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciate middle-grade writers who don't shy away from some of the more horrific elements of fantasy. This would be great for kids reading at the grade 6-8 reading level who want something that will challenge, excite, and scare them--I was definitely creeped out and horrified (in a good way) for much of this book.

Kenny has a lush way of writing his characters and his settings, so pick this up if you're looking for something like that. This is also another read that would be perfect for Spooky Season! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent

caoimhe9876's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, and Blood