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harleyqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
AMAZING , beautiful story about not judging others based on rumour or sight . A gay tale with an emotional impact. Linus works for a magical version of social services , his job is to make sure orphanages are up to code . But when he's sent to an orphanage classified as tier 4 the most difficult how will he fair ?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Hate crime
birdeynamnam's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Violence
lwprice1209's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a sweet book! Highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization
I added all of those content warnings which make this book sound upsetting, but it’s so lovely and hopeful! Read it!lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
On the surface this is a sweet book. A bureaucrat named Linus goes to an orphanage to see how things are going with the magical children and their mysterious headmaster, for lack of a better term. The kids are sweet and he comes to love them and Arthur, the headmaster (who deeply loves and cares for the children). I was very fond of Arthur and the children, and was passingly fond of Linus. We are told he is by the book and seems unflappable, which is why he was chosen for this review by the government agency he works for. But he sort of dithers around and seems very surprised and shocked by the kids. We are constantly told how wonderful he is, but I don't quite see it? Because he is open-minded and not a jerk to the kids? I also think the book is a smidge too long. I found it to be a soothing book about giving people chances and not judging them for being different, and that everyone deserves a place to call home with people who love them.
HOWEVER, there are some controversies about this book, as Klune was at least partially inspired by residential schools, where Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in to orphanages, treated brutally (some even killed) to try to assimilate them into white society and culture. There are also some excellent points to be made about trauma and children in foster care systems, and whether or not that is accurately reflected here in the book. As I have no experience with the foster care system, and I am not an Indigenous Person, or even a person of color, I do not want to make a judgement call on this, nor do I feel able to. I have seen comments on both sides about these issues. What is clear is that Klune is using the magical children as an allegory to show the oppression of a marginalized group by society, culture, and the government. I think we can all appreciate the attempt. But how people feel going from there is really going to be up to each person and their individual lives and experiences. The story and the characters are sweet and soothing, but there is still a lot I feel uncertain about. I did not want to ignore the issues that many other readers have addressed much better than I have.
HOWEVER, there are some controversies about this book, as Klune was at least partially inspired by residential schools, where Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in to orphanages, treated brutally (some even killed) to try to assimilate them into white society and culture. There are also some excellent points to be made about trauma and children in foster care systems, and whether or not that is accurately reflected here in the book. As I have no experience with the foster care system, and I am not an Indigenous Person, or even a person of color, I do not want to make a judgement call on this, nor do I feel able to. I have seen comments on both sides about these issues. What is clear is that Klune is using the magical children as an allegory to show the oppression of a marginalized group by society, culture, and the government. I think we can all appreciate the attempt. But how people feel going from there is really going to be up to each person and their individual lives and experiences. The story and the characters are sweet and soothing, but there is still a lot I feel uncertain about. I did not want to ignore the issues that many other readers have addressed much better than I have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, and Grief
mags_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
3.5
I enjoyed this book, but found the dialogue rather stilted and preachy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood
4pmbookstacker's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my current favorite read. It was super wholesome, and the relationships between the characters are so loveable. Had a beautiful happy ending that made me cry. A total must-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
annorabrady's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book started slower than other books I've read by TJ Klune but the story was no less wonderful. Klune makes loving the characters and their journeys seem effortless.
I will say that care should be taken with those who might be affected by those who struggle with eating disorders. There is a lot of passages about negstige self-image surrounding weight, body shaming, and disordered eating. It is done as part of the character's development but it could be triggering.
I will say that care should be taken with those who might be affected by those who struggle with eating disorders. There is a lot of passages about negstige self-image surrounding weight, body shaming, and disordered eating. It is done as part of the character's development but it could be triggering.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, and Forced institutionalization
glammster's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement, Hate crime, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
tamara_joy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Hate crime, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
fanboyriot's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Read For:
Fantasy
Slow Burn
Found Family
Idiots in Love
Happy Ending
Think Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children vibes but kinda queer. I just felt kinda neutral about it. The humor was okay, the characters were okay, and the setting was kinda meh. I just felt like I had to force myself to keep reading and if I didn’t already own the book I would have stopped. Also, I thought there would be more queer rep to be honest so that was kinda disappointing. Not to mention the fatphobia.
I wasn’t going to read this given the reviews I’ve been seeing recently, however, I already own the first two books so I figured I’d see if it was as bad as some of the reviews were saying. And honestly, I just didn’t understand the hype about it. Even not knowing what the book was based on it was barely a 3-star rating for me, it just fell flat to me.
However, learning that this was based on the Sixties Scoop and how the author decided to turn what was a cruel and tragic piece of history he read about on Wikipedia about how the Canadian government removed a bunch of indigenous children from their literal homes and away from their family only to be adopted to white, middle-class families and he then took that information and basically turned it into a happy little fantasy where the kids live not in an “orphanage” but a “home” like, dude, why?
This kind of thing is still something native people are dealing with and as a white person, it should not be something you’re involved in like this. In America the Supreme Court literally is going to be voting soon on overturning ICWA so states can regain control to remove Native children from their homes and families, this isn’t just some fantasy. This story could have been written way better and in a way that did romanticize trauma and make light of a literal genocide.
I just wouldn’t recommend this one. There are some links on where I got my information from if you’re interested along with two reviews I think do a better job of explaining this than I did.
Links:
Source: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A617930246/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=bookmark-ITBC&xid=0efbabda
Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixties_Scoop
Helpful Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4032060130
Another Helpful Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3601407534
Rep: Achillean, Queer MC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury