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soph22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
alexschmidt34's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Murder and Death
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Re-reading this now, I think I'm a bit too old to properly enjoy this book fully but this would be a good book for a teen who wanted to get into reading darker books without smut or overtly graphic violence.
Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Slavery
Moderate: Violence, Death, Murder, and Bullying
Minor: Body horror
ptork66's review against another edition
5.0
Minor: Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Confinement
lyricallit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I feel bad for Stroud; the publishing industry did him dirty on this. This book gets shelved as a middle grade novel, and it's definitely not a middle grade book. ONE of the two protagonists is a 12 year old boy, but the other is a centuries-old djinni! The structure uses footnotes, the front cover creeped out my own young readers, it's quite long for the age group, and at least one death happens on page, not even including the intensely chaotic "final boss" scene. This is definitely more YA, possibly even adult, fiction.
Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Slavery
booksthatburn'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
The worldbuilding makes it clear that magicians have been around for a very long time, with Nathaniel’s home of London being merely the most recent epicenter of magic and magical power. It shows the classism and social stratification which is fueled and perpetuated by magicians through their enslavement of summoned entities. It’s also a system which relies on controlling and conditioning children to think of being a magician and growing up to serve the British government as the only good and worthwhile way to exist, fostering a deep loathing and contempt for commoners (non-magicians). Bartimaeus never lets it be forgotten that his very corporeal existence is an unwanted and physically painful condition of his slavery, that as much as he may or may not develop a rapport with Nathaniel, their relationship is an inherently unequal one which is predicated on Nathaniel summoning Bartimaeus against his will. He's is a witty and engaging narrator, with timely asides to explain various worldbuilding details in a sardonic manner. The narrative alternates between Bartimaeus’s commentary and a third-person view of Nathaniel’s perspective in the past and present.
This is a solid start to the trilogy, setting up things which the later books will build upon.
Graphic: Classism and Child abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Slavery, Death, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Blood, and Deadnaming
avsdhpn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Very good world building. This almost feels like a cynical answer to Rowling's Harry Potter Universe where Magicians rule over "commoners" (or non-magical folk) in an almost mundane dystopia. Unwanted children are sold to the government to be trained as apprentices to begrudging masters. Magic is not innate to the caster; rather, it takes practice and knowledge to summon demonic spirits to do one's bidding and weave webs of spells to ensure the entities don't double cross them.
Minor: Abandonment, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Slavery, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Toxic friendship
orchidd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Violence and Child abuse
Minor: Death, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury
lomahongva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Child abuse and Confinement
csevet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death and Child abuse