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helendipietro's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
This book is an enthralling adventure that combines Blakeian mythology, magic and the power of imagination to tell a story that stays with you. 🐯
The story is a dark, magical tale set in a dystopian London where Empire never ended and so some difficult themes are explored, albeit age appropriately. It follows the difficult lives of two children, Adam and Zadie. Adam's life changes forever the day he stumbles upon a wonderful creature - Tyger. This is a cleverly layered book full of emotion and I would recommend it for children in Year 5, 6 and beyond!
S. F Said was inspired by William Blake's poem 'Tyger' which I remember teaching to my Year 6 class. It's a poem that excited and engaged him as this 'Tyger' wasn't any ordinary 'tiger'.
Plus the illustrations from Dave McKean are transporting!🥰
The story is a dark, magical tale set in a dystopian London where Empire never ended and so some difficult themes are explored, albeit age appropriately. It follows the difficult lives of two children, Adam and Zadie. Adam's life changes forever the day he stumbles upon a wonderful creature - Tyger. This is a cleverly layered book full of emotion and I would recommend it for children in Year 5, 6 and beyond!
S. F Said was inspired by William Blake's poem 'Tyger' which I remember teaching to my Year 6 class. It's a poem that excited and engaged him as this 'Tyger' wasn't any ordinary 'tiger'.
Plus the illustrations from Dave McKean are transporting!🥰
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation and Xenophobia
Minor: Child death
slinkmalink's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
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
3.5
I think this did a pretty good job at conveying the kind of Victorian/peak empire era, though I wasn't quite sure why it wasn't historical fiction rather than set now but the same as that period?
Overall was a fun adventure full of magic and the power of imagination and a 'the real enemies are the rich who are stealing from you' and 'the world can be horrible and people can do awful things when they're scared but it can be better' theme I enjoy in books
Didn't initially realise this book was inspired by Blake but it was a nice surprise to see all the references dotted throughout. I thought all the different doors were cool and again felt very Blake especially the grain of sand and I enjoyed the feeling the history in everything.
Overall was a fun adventure full of magic and the power of imagination and a 'the real enemies are the rich who are stealing from you' and 'the world can be horrible and people can do awful things when they're scared but it can be better' theme I enjoy in books
Didn't initially realise this book was inspired by Blake but it was a nice surprise to see all the references dotted throughout. I thought all the different doors were cool and again felt very Blake especially the grain of sand and I enjoyed the feeling the history in everything.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Death
katiewhocanread's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Child death, Death, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Islamophobia, Slavery, Colonisation, Grief, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Antisemitism, Classism, and Blood
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What's with my accidentally stumbling upon a bunch of books in a row set in and around London?
Set in an alternate London, and aimed at a youth audience, Tyger tells the story of a boy born in London to a Middle-Eastern migrant family. Doubling down on the oppression of modern London, this setting is in a British Empire that has an actual Emperor, slaves, and segregation that is maintained by a police state.
While doing deliveries for his family business young Adam runs from a man who wants to mug him and finds himself in a rubbish dump on common land, where he finds a Tyger.. (you know.. burning bright and all those tygery things that tygers do) this would be weird enough, but these animals are supposed to be extinct in that world, and this one talks.
Now I have a pretty good grounding in myth and fantasy stuff, and this book got me looking things up and rabbit-holing a wee bit. Having recently learned that Tyburn gallows is "the most haunted place in London" (because Netflix says so, thanks "Lockwood & Co.") I was already familiar with that, but I was noticing some serious creation mythos stuff as we skirt some Angelic things.
First I recognised the name Urizen (°*waves to friend who used this an an online alias*°), but I have not read William Blake, and it seems that much of the entire mythos in this book is based off those writings. The author certainly lingers on the tiger's symmetry and the the spelling of Tyger is straight from Blake's poem of the same name.
Most books for young people tend to skirt the yucky bits of violent oppression but this book, in a move that I haven't seen since the (historical fiction) Felix and Zelda series (Morris Gleitzman), included the hanging of an innocent child. It also has Tyger wounded several times by nasty hunters including a child having to nurse its injuries. It may not be a good fit for very sensitive readers.
I kept getting a feeling that there was going to be some horrible revelation at the other end of the book, but much as I recognised certain things long before they happened, the focus of the story remained on the children, and their empowerment. The primary focus of the story is hope, and specifically having imagination and creativity (which psychologists say is essential in healing and overcoming trauma, so that's spot on). As the characters learn to recognise others and see what is going on in the world around them, reflect on themselves and their interactions, and then be loving and trusting, we share a skillset for developing networks that give power to people to end oppression (maybe I have read too much communist literature lately?). Only if you can imagine a different world, can you use your energies to bring that world into being.
Set in an alternate London, and aimed at a youth audience, Tyger tells the story of a boy born in London to a Middle-Eastern migrant family. Doubling down on the oppression of modern London, this setting is in a British Empire that has an actual Emperor, slaves, and segregation that is maintained by a police state.
While doing deliveries for his family business young Adam runs from a man who wants to mug him and finds himself in a rubbish dump on common land, where he finds a Tyger.. (you know.. burning bright and all those tygery things that tygers do) this would be weird enough, but these animals are supposed to be extinct in that world, and this one talks.
Now I have a pretty good grounding in myth and fantasy stuff, and this book got me looking things up and rabbit-holing a wee bit. Having recently learned that Tyburn gallows is "the most haunted place in London" (because Netflix says so, thanks "Lockwood & Co.") I was already familiar with that, but I was noticing some serious creation mythos stuff as we skirt some Angelic things.
First I recognised the name Urizen (°*waves to friend who used this an an online alias*°), but I have not read William Blake, and it seems that much of the entire mythos in this book is based off those writings. The author certainly lingers on the tiger's symmetry and the the spelling of Tyger is straight from Blake's poem of the same name.
Most books for young people tend to skirt the yucky bits of violent oppression but this book, in a move that I haven't seen since the (historical fiction) Felix and Zelda series (Morris Gleitzman), included the hanging of an innocent child. It also has Tyger wounded several times by nasty hunters including a child having to nurse its injuries. It may not be a good fit for very sensitive readers.
I kept getting a feeling that there was going to be some horrible revelation at the other end of the book, but much as I recognised certain things long before they happened, the focus of the story remained on the children, and their empowerment. The primary focus of the story is hope, and specifically having imagination and creativity (which psychologists say is essential in healing and overcoming trauma, so that's spot on). As the characters learn to recognise others and see what is going on in the world around them, reflect on themselves and their interactions, and then be loving and trusting, we share a skillset for developing networks that give power to people to end oppression (maybe I have read too much communist literature lately?). Only if you can imagine a different world, can you use your energies to bring that world into being.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racial slurs, Child death, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Mental illness, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death, Grief, Violence, Islamophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Excrement, Deportation, and Antisemitism
rackle's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Animal cruelty, and Slavery
Minor: Islamophobia, Blood, and Colonisation
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