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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Torn between 3.5 and 4. I greatly enjoyed the characters and that it was a fantasy mystery, but the mystery kind of falls apart under examination. Plus, the murderer felt way too obvious to me. But that could be because there weren’t very many characters in the book overall. I also wish we got more of some of the characters, particularly Loga and Jeckran. It wasn’t a short book, but I still think some parts/povs could have been expanded or given room to breathe. The pacing, while not poorly executed, was quite fast. I did think the relationships between characters were fun and interesting. It was a good book to break my reading slump.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
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
“Ella Enchanted” for grown ups
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
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
A truly beautiful example of world building. The story is told in third person from the perspective of different characters each chapter, only explaining details of the world if someone else in the story doesn’t know, such as between those of different races (troll and human) or cultures. Nothing is explained to the reader directly, which was refreshing and interesting, definitely fun and kept me on my toes. I read this book after Waggoner’s second book, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry, and I would recommend reading them in order instead. These books exist in the same universe but have very little in the way of overlapping characters, a few we knew closely in this book were distantly referenced in the Guide.
I loved the absolute normalcy of queerness, or bisexuality, in the culture of this book. People were and were expected to be interested in men and women, though they may have a preference for one over he other, and trolls declared their identity when they came of age (a mix between a gender role and a “job,” as a character explained it), or they were allowed to not declare at all, or switch between roles if they declared it so.
Often books where queerness is a norm describes it in such a way that makes it clear it is different than what is expected, even if it is supposed to be normal and unremarkable in the story, and this book made it absolutely normal and unremarkable. It was lovely to lose myself in this world.
I loved the absolute normalcy of queerness, or bisexuality, in the culture of this book. People were and were expected to be interested in men and women, though they may have a preference for one over he other, and trolls declared their identity when they came of age (a mix between a gender role and a “job,” as a character explained it), or they were allowed to not declare at all, or switch between roles if they declared it so.
Often books where queerness is a norm describes it in such a way that makes it clear it is different than what is expected, even if it is supposed to be normal and unremarkable in the story, and this book made it absolutely normal and unremarkable. It was lovely to lose myself in this world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous