Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

almost a thousand pages and I keep asking myself, what was this all for? I thought that there would be some major reveal, a plot twist, something majestic to make up for that long ass set up but. there wasn't. questions were not answered, it didn't even really *end*, no big character arc was finished... I don't know. I don't know why I bothered to finish this. I guess it's kind of easy to read. and it's atmospheric sometimes. but don't read this for the characters, don't read it for the magic system (there isn't one), don't read it for the plot...
the imagery and some moments were really strong. I can't deny that and I don't want to. but I just can't figure out why there needs to be so much of it.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you are someone who is any level of dedicated to the occult arts, particularly those you learn extensively out of books like ancient astrology, grimoire magic, traditional witchcraft, or a reconstructionist polytheism, this book is for us. The society of magicians in York is so true to many groups and individuals I have met that I felt compelled to read the first page and a half out loud to the occultists and close friends of occultists I met up with while reading this book, who could not stop smiling and shaking their head at it. If you feel the same way about those opening paragraphs, it is worth your time to continue on with the entire tome.

What ultimately robbed it from being 5 Stars in my eyes is that it was too long! This book is fantastic but it didn't need to be over 800 pages. It is maddening how many times characters not sharing information with each other prevents the right action from occurring until hundreds of pages later. There was a point where I thought I was never going to finish this damn thing and I felt about it akin to a textbook I was reading for class. And then we finally get a large jolt of plot progression in the last ~150 so pages that was so satisfying it kept me from from going down to a flat 4 Stars.

Sidenote: this book contains period-typical racism, in both remarks made about Jewish people and one of our main PoV characters being a Black man in London in the early 1800's.

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kelsea's review

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adventurous dark lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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clara_mai's review against another edition

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3.5

- impressively intricate world building (the history of magic in England)
- historical aspect well executed with lots of fun references (the Shelleys appear!)
- rich, gothic atmosphere
- lush descriptions of the faerie world and the magic
- writing style embodies historical period
- beautiful illustrations accompany the story

- narrative style keeps the characters at a distance
- little emotional impact
- would have liked to see critique of/commentary on British Imperialism as magic was constantly used in favour of the government
- although I think this needed to be a long book, it could have been a *little* shorter
- ending not really satisfying, feels like it doesn't do the rest of the story justice

now very interested in reading Piranesi, a significantly shorter and much more recent work by Susanna Clarke that I've had my eye on for a while

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anniup's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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pvbobrien's review

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a cross between historical fiction and fantasy that follows these two men as they research magical history and practice and attempt to carve out a place for magic in England. I enjoyed reading about the eccentric magicians, but I think it's the secondary characters who really bring the story to life. The book is quite long, can be slow at times, and is heavily character-driven so I hesitate to recommend it to most, but for the right audience it is a delight. I loved the additional lore and context added through footnotes and thought it was a clever way to bring in more info and mirror the magical texts the characters might be reading.

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afion's review against another edition

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5.0

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