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cwalden's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Minor: Murder and Police brutality
graceev's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
It's well-written if oddly paced, with fairly well-developed characters and enough real-world ties and consequences to keep the plot engaging even when it meanders. But let's be honest: how a person reacts to that first sentence I put up there probably determines whether or not they'll like it.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, War, and Death of parent
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
If I'm being honest, the beginning confused me a little bit. Maybe my brain wandered while I was listening to the audiobook and I just missed it entirely, but I somehow didn't notice the skip in time, so when the FMC went from being terrified of nightmares to being a pro at fighting them, I was super confused! However, once I understood the timeline, I felt much better and very quickly adjusted to the story - which was amazing!
What an incredibly unique twist on the classic Wonderland story! I've read reimaginings of Alice in Wonderland, but never something quite like this. If the character names weren't somewhat similar to the originals, I would've never known that it was connected, which I actually really liked. It was whimsical and dark, simultaneously, a mix that's hard to accomplish in my opinion.
The relationships between Alice and all of the other characters was something that I loved from the very beginning. While there are tiny elements of romance, it's definitely not the focus at all. The primary emphasis is on the adventure and the friendships made along the way. It has a great found family aspect that I really enjoyed.
My first thought after finishing the book was, "when can I get my hands on the sequel?" I proceeded to immediately download the audio for the second book because I had to find out what came next!
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Police brutality
zombiezami'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
3.5
Graphic: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Mental illness, Medical content, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Stalking
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, and Violence
girlonbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
đđđđ (four stars as rated in hearts so broken because THAT ENDING đ)
âKnowledge is power, and the world is set against you knowing anything, so when someoneâs trying to teach you something, pay attention.â
If you peruse the one star reviews for A Blade So Black as I have done, you will quickly realize that there is basically one reason for any and all low ratings: white readers were made uncomfortable that this book challenges their idea of privilege or race AND that a Black woman dared to speak up about it. Now that white people, and white feminists especially, have had their big âanti-racism awakening,â where are the apologies for McKinney? Where is the accountability from the black-square-posters and hashtag-iâm-listening-ers that flooded her reviews with hate and threats less than three years ago?
âPromise me youâll be careful. I know you already are, justââshe lifted her hand from Aliceâs knee, made a fist, then forced her fingers loose to pat her knee again, squeezingââeven when youâre careful, even when you play by the rules, it might not be enough. Gotta go the extra mile out here.â
⨠Rep in this book: Black Protagonist, own voices, queer side characters
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit
whysomanysams's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Police brutality
Minor: Blood, Gore, and Racism