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cmbohn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a fun story! I loved Oliver and his armadillo. Would be a good story to read aloud.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child death, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
perifairy's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Delightful short read about a young mage whose town has bullied him into a quest he had already decided to do. I think anyone can read any book of any age range if they desire, but I think I would recommend this book most to a middle schooler who feels like all the adults in their life expect them to fix impossible problems. This book shows us it's selfish for adults to place monumentous expectations on a child, selfish to expect the child to do things the adults never would. It's about empathizing with mod mentality but not forgiving mob mentality. It's about recognizing the limits of your abilities but letting yourself get creative with the abilities you do have. Oliver is a very sweet and empathetic main character with an armadillo as a familiar. I especially love that Armadilo fills the role of a sarcastic and wise mentor, but he's never condescending to Oliver. They have a very sweet bond and I can feel their love for each other with every exchange.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, and Death
bibble_kingly's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Violence, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Cursing and Murder
mabellene's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Kidnapping
Minor: Dementia
bexi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Child abuse
Minor: Dementia
tostita's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Child death, Dementia, and Murder
welgan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This review contains a few spoilers about themes in the book.
I began to read Minor Mage as my second T. Kingfisher book, after Swordheart. Because it was not romance and the main character was a 12 years old boy, I was expecting story directed towards a younger audience. Halfway through the book I tought "wait. This is absolutely NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK." (and it is interesting that this question is addressed by the author at the end in her author's note).
It is not a problem for me as I think the book was brilliant and the difficults matters were very interesting to read, and well-handled, but some scenes can be hard on some persons. If you're triggered by children in difficult situations, please read carefully the content warnings. It is not too grimdark and ends well, if that helps !
To me, Minor Mage is a modern telling of a fairytale. Dark and dangerous as old fairtales were, with monsters wanting to eat people, and people who are various degrees of monsters inside. And as such, it is very well done !
I was surprised by the philosophy and questioning. The first part of the book involves a lonely and almost surreal journey through a desertic landscape. The story questions some deep matters, such as responsability falling too early on young people without enough guidance, and the way a mob of scared people can do frightening things the individuals would never do on their own, expecially everyday people you know well.
I was expecting a funny, light-hearted story. While written with humor, the story is more reflective and a self-improvement and discovery quest than it is inherently funny. I was expecting the armadillo thing to be a comic relief, and the "minor mage" gimmick to be why it is fun. I was wrong and I am very glad about this : it is quickly shown that our main character is not bad or not very gifted at what he does ; he's in fact, very young and hadn't had time to properly learn before his teacher wasn't here anymore. Following the inner monologue of a benevolent 12 years-old forced to grow up to early to live up to the expectations upon him was interesting, sensible and totally subverted my expectations of a "minor mage".
Finally, I'd like to say my appreciation of the armadillo. He's much more than a funny sidekick, his relationship with the main character was deep and strong, and it was very heartwarming to read.
I began to read Minor Mage as my second T. Kingfisher book, after Swordheart. Because it was not romance and the main character was a 12 years old boy, I was expecting story directed towards a younger audience. Halfway through the book I tought "wait. This is absolutely NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK." (and it is interesting that this question is addressed by the author at the end in her author's note).
It is not a problem for me as I think the book was brilliant and the difficults matters were very interesting to read, and well-handled, but some scenes can be hard on some persons. If you're triggered by children in difficult situations, please read carefully the content warnings. It is not too grimdark and ends well, if that helps !
To me, Minor Mage is a modern telling of a fairytale. Dark and dangerous as old fairtales were, with monsters wanting to eat people, and people who are various degrees of monsters inside. And as such, it is very well done !
I was surprised by the philosophy and questioning. The first part of the book involves a lonely and almost surreal journey through a desertic landscape. The story questions some deep matters, such as responsability falling too early on young people without enough guidance, and the way a mob of scared people can do frightening things the individuals would never do on their own, expecially everyday people you know well.
I was expecting a funny, light-hearted story. While written with humor, the story is more reflective and a self-improvement and discovery quest than it is inherently funny. I was expecting the armadillo thing to be a comic relief, and the "minor mage" gimmick to be why it is fun. I was wrong and I am very glad about this : it is quickly shown that our main character is not bad or not very gifted at what he does ; he's in fact, very young and hadn't had time to properly learn before his teacher wasn't here anymore. Following the inner monologue of a benevolent 12 years-old forced to grow up to early to live up to the expectations upon him was interesting, sensible and totally subverted my expectations of a "minor mage".
Finally, I'd like to say my appreciation of the armadillo. He's much more than a funny sidekick, his relationship with the main character was deep and strong, and it was very heartwarming to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Child death and Murder
The violence is mainly explicit in 2 scenes (saltycoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, and Physical abuse
rainstormdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Body horror
Minor: Blood, Death, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Torture
Nonhuman creatures (ghuls) that eat people, references to a serial killer who targets little girls (with the implication that he does various worse things to them before killing them), fights in which people die, bandits who kill people and hold people for ransom, a magician who makes bone harps from murdered people
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