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_krysta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
This book was thought provoking and has an interesting premise. I enjoyed the overall theme of good versus bad, and how a thirst for power can corrupt. There was a surprising cast of diverse characters I wouldn't have expected to team together so well. The bad people were truly evil, which is where a lot of the horror and violence comes in. So truly consider content warnings on that front, there are some brutal murders. It goes to show how a lot of pain and suffering can lead others to inflict the worst upon the world. I felt the magic books was unique and enjoyed learning how each worked. It was also reflective on how a book can be used for good and bad, depending on the users intentions. I thought the characters also showed immense growth by the end. We get insight into each one and I appreciated the third person omniscent narration for that purpose. The time travel was well done, I didn't have to work too hard to keep track of the time jumps.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Racism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Gruesome death, hateful language by antagonists. Eating disorder minor, really just random comments on food by 2nd fmc.aylajn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
Either this book was not predictable at all or I was so engrossed that I wasn’t trying to figure out what was coming. Either way, it was so compelling and creative.
The only reason I won’t give this a full 5 stars is that the level of pure evil from the villains in this story simply did not fit with the tone of the rest of the book. Those scenes, though very short in relation to the rest of the story, were overly disturbing in comparison with the whimsy, adventure, friendship, and beauty of the rest of the story.
Major spoiler below:
I will say the very last scene with The Woman where she essentially soaks up all of Hugo’s pain filled in that last gap and made sense of the evil. But that made me so sad for that little girl who became The Woman, and I wished that there was a way that she could have been saved from her pain the way that Hugo was. She became who she was unknowingly because of him, and I wish she could have been redeemed.
The only reason I won’t give this a full 5 stars is that the level of pure evil from the villains in this story simply did not fit with the tone of the rest of the book. Those scenes, though very short in relation to the rest of the story, were overly disturbing in comparison with the whimsy, adventure, friendship, and beauty of the rest of the story.
Major spoiler below:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
dclazygirl's review
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
traceyreads2's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley for a digital ARC copy of this book.
I was surprised by the constant labeling of characters in this book only to pigeon hold them into tropes that are harmful and often not true. Why mention a character is a certain gender or ethnicity only to have them immediately be a ruthless murderer?
I really had high hopes for this book and was hoping to enjoy it more than I did, but I instead I could barely finish it.
I was surprised by the constant labeling of characters in this book only to pigeon hold them into tropes that are harmful and often not true. Why mention a character is a certain gender or ethnicity only to have them immediately be a ruthless murderer?
I really had high hopes for this book and was hoping to enjoy it more than I did, but I instead I could barely finish it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
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