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aliciaking3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
atuin's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
This is a Beautifully written Novella. No one writes Unicorns like Peter S. Beagle. The character's internal conflict over his feelings of guilt and isolation was almost as interesting as the Unicorn descriptions. I did not find the romance too troubling, as the younger party was an adult, instigated it, and enthusiastically affirmed her interest over and over again. The plot was simple, but the characters and descriptions felt so good I can not take away any points for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
ieatbooks_'s review against another edition
I picked this up because I was looking for a cozy little fantasy story and it’s short so I only really glanced at a review or two before reading. I did enjoy the first half of the book, it was pretty much what I was looking for up until the relationship between Bianchi and Giovanna. That was not for me. I found the 23 year age gap really weird. Especially since he makes it very clear that he still sees her a child. He tells her multiple times that he is too old for her and he remembers when she was a just little kid. At this point I was just going to finish the book because I was almost done with it anyway, but when the cat died it was just kind of just the last straw. I wasn’t enjoying anymore and it felt like it wasn’t about unicorns anymore I did also find the writing to be a bit plain, but that is kind of just a nit pick and probably more of a preference thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Miscarriage and Gore
spookfish's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Beagle's writing is very beautiful, he is a skilled craftsman of whimsy and magical mystery. However, the could-be greatness of this book is lost about ¼ of the way through. The introduction of a romance between a 47 year old man, and a young woman in her 20's spoilt this for me, and that's most of the story! I did not like the way the protagonist referred to his young love interest, along with constantly reminding her how he remembers her as a child, even as she is stood in front of him naked as an adult.
A real shame, because the story of a lonely farmer in Italy during the winter being met my a pregnant unicorn, was really lovely, it could have been much more than it turned out to be.
Should I even mention the Italian gang that starts threatening him and murdering his animals? Not sure that needed to be wedged in.
A missed opportunity for something better.
A real shame, because the story of a lonely farmer in Italy during the winter being met my a pregnant unicorn, was really lovely, it could have been much more than it turned out to be.
Should I even mention the Italian gang that starts threatening him and murdering his animals? Not sure that needed to be wedged in.
A missed opportunity for something better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Gore, and Animal death
Moderate: Death
Minor: Violence, Miscarriage, Grief, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
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