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vasha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Bullying, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Animal death
f18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, and Police brutality
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Gun violence, and Racism
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence
drowninglinesiunderline's review against another edition
- 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
It was my first time reading Royce’s work and I am now very motivated to seek out more.
The author achieved so much in this spooky story:
- a sensitive, complex sibling relationship
- rich introduction to Gullah Geechee culture, and the history and practice of root magic
- downright creepy (venturing into scary) stuff, very vividly written
- strong sense of place: the marsh comes all the way to life due to the sensory style of the writing, you can see it, hear it, smell it
- a memorable, loving family at the centre of it all
Howevers:
- really the only aspect of this that didn’t work for me was the slow start, for the first quarter I felt like there wasn’t enough tension
- while I actually ended up finding the VERY scary climactic moment to be memorable and so well done, it was graphic and some kids might be quite frightened (nightmare territory for some I’ll bet)
I will definitely keep reading more Middle Grade titles by Royce. This was rich and layered and finely imagined.
Graphic: Police brutality and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Slavery
adoras's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Violence, Racism, Bullying, and Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death, Slavery, and Murder