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rafacolog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Child death, Death, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Animal cruelty
carrrissa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, and Child abuse
Minor: Racism
anna_m_k'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
5.0
Graphic: Child death and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Misogyny, Child death, and Racism
bennoyb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Classism, Racism, Child death, Child abuse, and Violence
plume_de_renarde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Misogyny
Minor: Abandonment, Racism, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was an enjoyable book. I think the characters are well-developed. The story started off strong and the ending was weak. I do plan to read the other books in the series.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Trafficking, and Blood
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Physical abuse
bexi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I often struggled to connect with the characters and found many of them unlikable, including the main character Lyra (she grew on me, but I'm still not sure I like her).
I believe this book is supposed to be a critique of Christianity, or maybe more specifically the Church. I occasionally felt I lacked the knowledge to understand all of the critiques because although my parents were raised Baptist & Catholic respectively, I was not raised as such. For context, I'm not a religious person and identify as agnostic. I found the commentary interesting, but if you're a Christian you might get upset by some of it.
This book is marked as middle grade and young adult. I'd say it leans more YA. I found this incredibly dark for MG and would not recommend it to the average middle grader. If said child is emotionally & intellectually mature for their age then okay, but otherwise I'd say it's best for ages 14+. I don't have kids, so take that with a grain of salt. I personally would not have been mature/smart enough to get much out this book had I read it in middle school. 😅
I thought the story was unique and liked it overall, but I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book in the series.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Racism, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Excrement, and Infidelity
orchidlilly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Medical content, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, and Child death
Minor: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Colonisation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Blood, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Racial slurs, and Drug use
moonchildjuli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Kidnapping, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, and Confinement