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demetrius_bennett's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Car accident
Minor: Abandonment and Violence
typedtruths's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I can't put my finger on why this didn't work for me; sadly everything from the overly cartoonish art to the sloppy way the plot weaved in Chinese mythology didn't work for me.
▷ Representation: Chinese protagonist and secondary charcters.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
▷ Representation: Chinese protagonist and secondary charcters.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
➸ Trigger warnings for death of a mother and wife in childbirth recounted, near-death of a friend and child (on-page), and mentions of death of a pet dog.becandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
A fun middle-grade graphic, chock full of ghosty delight with a mild spook factor for the littlies.
The art style and language make this graphic an easy read for younger readers, and a fun quick read for the adults. It is cartoonish and bright, while still lending a little bit of spook and grossness to our scarier characters. A great blend of juvenile horror and comedy.
The story itself is very engaging, with a crisscrossing of character timelines that is interesting but easy to follow. Inspired by Chinese mythology and Studio Ghibli, there is a thoughtful whimsy in the paranormal elements throughout the story. The plot is also grounded in a very gentle exploration of grief and friendship, making this overall a fantastic choice for readers both young and old.
Perfect for readers who loved Ghosts, Things in the Basement, or Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian.
The art style and language make this graphic an easy read for younger readers, and a fun quick read for the adults. It is cartoonish and bright, while still lending a little bit of spook and grossness to our scarier characters. A great blend of juvenile horror and comedy.
The story itself is very engaging, with a crisscrossing of character timelines that is interesting but easy to follow. Inspired by Chinese mythology and Studio Ghibli, there is a thoughtful whimsy in the paranormal elements throughout the story. The plot is also grounded in a very gentle exploration of grief and friendship, making this overall a fantastic choice for readers both young and old.
Perfect for readers who loved Ghosts, Things in the Basement, or Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Grief and Animal death
→ trigger warnings: death and grief depiction, death of a mother and wife, near-death experiences of a child, death of a pet doglawbooks600's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Representation: Asian characters
Score: Six points out of ten.
Well. I keep seeing trailers for this book (and I saw it at a bookstore) at one of the two libraries I go to, but I put it off because of its length; soon enough I picked it up and finally read it. When I finished it, I had some thoughts, well I enjoyed it but there were too many issues in the story that forced me to lower its rating to three stars. Shame. Now then. It starts with a prologue saying that there were two characters, and one of them was supposed to die (I'm not sure why though.) then it cuts to present day with the main character July Chen or July. Here is where the issues surface, I couldn't connect to July and the other significant ghost character (whose name I forgot), and did I mention it's tedious to read? That's mostly because of the slow pacing which works in some books, but not this one, it didn't help me when I found that the narrative was disjointed as there were so many events going on like July being at school, talking to her father and her new friend, going to the underworld, the backstory and so on. It's all one enormous mess that's too difficult for me to enthral myself in. July goes to the underworld, fixes an error in the Birth and Death List, no one dies and it all ends nicely. Ah well. On to the next book, I suppose.
Score: Six points out of ten.
Well. I keep seeing trailers for this book (and I saw it at a bookstore) at one of the two libraries I go to, but I put it off because of its length; soon enough I picked it up and finally read it. When I finished it, I had some thoughts, well I enjoyed it but there were too many issues in the story that forced me to lower its rating to three stars. Shame. Now then. It starts with a prologue saying that there were two characters, and one of them was supposed to die (I'm not sure why though.) then it cuts to present day with the main character July Chen or July. Here is where the issues surface, I couldn't connect to July and the other significant ghost character (whose name I forgot), and did I mention it's tedious to read? That's mostly because of the slow pacing which works in some books, but not this one, it didn't help me when I found that the narrative was disjointed as there were so many events going on like July being at school, talking to her father and her new friend, going to the underworld, the backstory and so on. It's all one enormous mess that's too difficult for me to enthral myself in. July goes to the underworld, fixes an error in the Birth and Death List, no one dies and it all ends nicely. Ah well. On to the next book, I suppose.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
Full trigger warnings: Death of a motherkrivas91's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Animal death
lettuce_read's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
ceruleanseas's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
emily_mh's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Vomit, Grief, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death
Minor: drowning, death of petiamthelizardqueen's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Creepy but cool
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
robinks's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
5.0
This was such a sad but cute story of ghosts and friendship and family. The art drew me in, and Lai masterfully reveals small pieces of the story as it progresses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Medical content, and Grief