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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
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
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
obviousthings's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I would like to note, though, that the way cultures from outside England are incorporated into the worldbuilding is... not particularly respectful, as far as I can tell. Bartimaeus makes a few offhand mentions of places he's been summoned in the past, and some of it comes off as very stereotypical. None of it is really in-depth or relevant to the main setting or plot, though.
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Grief
Minor: Body horror and Confinement