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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
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:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A delightful romp through a contemporary-fantasy world for lovers of Terry Pratchett's irreverent but heart-filled humour, centred around queer-positive found family and a diverse, dynamic cast.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A new spin on the “Chosen One” tale! Especially in the beginning, the book was quite funny. There was a great juxtaposition of the magic and the mundanity (I highlighted the mention of a “reasonably priced pocket dimension” for a storage space) for comedy’s sake. Overall, there were also plenty of wry or outright humorous lines that kept the mood up, especially considering I didn't realize the magic was set in <i>our</i> world. I think the story melted well enough into a more serious and tired tone later on, but I did kind of miss these flashes of humor once we really got going (or else my amusement turned into irritation).
I found the teenage character genuinely frustrating—she's been through terrible things, and I can see the outlines of messages about caring for young people and extending empathy even when they lash out, but man, I did not enjoy her character at all. She read more like twelve than sixteen. A good chunk of the middle portion was repetition of something like “teenager does something impulsive and hurts others. Main character has to go after her because she's just a kid and doesn't admit the consequences of her actions. Repeat.”
Also, I think this was an editing issue, but there were a few sentences that just didn't make grammatical sense and a few typos. There were also some moments that seemed off or weren't really explained (like our main character saying there was no reason to lie about their quest after a whole bit about why they were choosing to lie in the previous section?), which overall gave the feel that just one more pass was needed to smooth everything over.
My final points are spoiler-y, although not specific. I think the plotline about abuse within the magical military was good overall, although perhaps I’m not pro-military enough myself to buy into how long it took everyone to accept that serious abuse was going on within the ranks. I’m ambivalent about the climax of that story—there were comments made at the end about how only a few perpetrators would be prosecuted, which came very close to commentary on the institution, but not quite. At the end, the conclusions about military wrongdoing oscillated between a “bad egg” sort of approach with one antagonist and an “it’s everyone and no one” approach that barely alluded to institutional violence. I don’t think it was poorly handled, per se, I just think the reckoning could’ve been more incisive considering how central it is to literally the entire story.
I found the teenage character genuinely frustrating—she's been through terrible things, and I can see the outlines of messages about caring for young people and extending empathy even when they lash out, but man, I did not enjoy her character at all. She read more like twelve than sixteen. A good chunk of the middle portion was repetition of something like “teenager does something impulsive and hurts others. Main character has to go after her because she's just a kid and doesn't admit the consequences of her actions. Repeat.”
Also, I think this was an editing issue, but there were a few sentences that just didn't make grammatical sense and a few typos. There were also some moments that seemed off or weren't really explained (like our main character saying there was no reason to lie about their quest after a whole bit about why they were choosing to lie in the previous section?), which overall gave the feel that just one more pass was needed to smooth everything over.
My final points are spoiler-y, although not specific.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
adventurous
emotional
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:
No