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skylarkblue1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Representations: https://trello.com/c/pIfN48lN/96-the-swifts-1-the-swifts-a-dictionary-of-scoundrels-by-beth-lincoln
I wasn't too sure where this was headed at first. The humour was pretty dark (though I did personally enjoy it!) and the characters were fun to read about. As the mystery and tension grew though, it evolved into a suprisingly deep, dark and complex book! Certainly like nothing I'd expect from a childrens book, and honestly parents/teachers if you're thinking of giving this book to a kid, read it through first. Obviously, it's fine, but it can get heavy and there's a lot of topics that could create interesting and important conversations!
I just absolutely loved the characters, strong neurodiversity traits from 2 of the kids, the queer representation was very cute as well! There was a ton of characters, and honestly I did get a bit confused on who was who, but suprisingly I think it actually manages to handle them all pretty well. It really just felt like my issues remembering who was who was more on my really bad memory and less on the book, because as soon as I picked up a trait from someone I remembered exactly who they were! Each character was just so different and unique!
A lot of important messages throughout the book but none felt forced or trying to fight for attention over all the other messages. They all fit quite nicely together in my opinion. The story felt well paced, just fast, but flowed quite well. The chain of mysteries and plot twists kept be very well gripped hard throughout all of the last third and I honestly didn't know how it would end!
This absolutely shoots up to the top of my favourites list. I'm so thankful that Waterstones is taking good care with their books of the month, I would probably never have found this otherwise!!
I wasn't too sure where this was headed at first. The humour was pretty dark (though I did personally enjoy it!) and the characters were fun to read about. As the mystery and tension grew though, it evolved into a suprisingly deep, dark and complex book! Certainly like nothing I'd expect from a childrens book, and honestly parents/teachers if you're thinking of giving this book to a kid, read it through first. Obviously, it's fine, but it can get heavy and there's a lot of topics that could create interesting and important conversations!
I just absolutely loved the characters, strong neurodiversity traits from 2 of the kids, the queer representation was very cute as well! There was a ton of characters, and honestly I did get a bit confused on who was who, but suprisingly I think it actually manages to handle them all pretty well. It really just felt like my issues remembering who was who was more on my really bad memory and less on the book, because as soon as I picked up a trait from someone I remembered exactly who they were! Each character was just so different and unique!
A lot of important messages throughout the book but none felt forced or trying to fight for attention over all the other messages. They all fit quite nicely together in my opinion. The story felt well paced, just fast, but flowed quite well. The chain of mysteries and plot twists kept be very well gripped hard throughout all of the last third and I honestly didn't know how it would end!
This absolutely shoots up to the top of my favourites list. I'm so thankful that Waterstones is taking good care with their books of the month, I would probably never have found this otherwise!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gore, Deadnaming, and Alcohol
There's no mentions of the deadname, and there's no overt transphobia. It contains a small side story of a family member not easily understanding chosen vs dead names.bookshelf_al's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Deadnaming
lyctororiole's review
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Gore
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