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wrensreadingroom's review
5.0
Moderate: Colonisation, Cursing, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Addiction, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, and Torture
starrysteph'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The concept was fantastic; what if the anthropomorphic animals from your favorite classic childhood book were real? But what if their stories weren't quite so sweet - and they were out for murderous revenge?
The plot was imaginative and I think the author's skill was best utilized during the excerpts of the story within a story (written as epic poetry). Seriously, the poetry was awesome.
I also enjoyed the characterization of each of the four main animals. I loved the initial playfulness, and the wonder & charm at meeting these literary characters come to life.
However, the greater content of the book fell flat for me. It was painfully overwritten. Every single sentence was streeeeetched out, unnecessarily so, and it often felt like "fun time with a thesaurus". I love lyrical writing, but I did not find it to be particularly well done or at all justified here. It felt like an attempt at pretentiousness without depth, and it just made my head hurt. (It was hugely ironic that there are two characters within this book who speak in an unbearably academic way - the others poke fun at them.)
I'm sure this is partially because of the writing, but the pacing was very mismatched. The first 100 or so pages were a real drag to get through, and I'm sure many readers gave up before we even got to the juicy action. And even when everything exploded and the horror began, we rushed through some exciting moments and painfully lingered on others.
My other major gripe was the amount of perfectly timed moments and coincidences. Everyone was saved from death at the last possible second (JUST as the knife was going in, etc.). Characters came back from death (well, the very brink of death I guess) so many times that their final deaths lost their impact on me as a reader.
There were some eloquent quotes & reflections towards the end of the book that gave me pause. Overall, excellent concept with some high quality moments ... but ultimately weakened by the prose.
CW: violence, death, murder, self harm, slavery, animal cruelty, animal death, suicidal thoughts, death of parent, abandonment, confinement
Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
irenemarie'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, Abandonment, and Gun violence
tkatt20's review
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Slavery, Colonisation, Abandonment, and Genocide
apersonfromflorida's review
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Excrement, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Animal death