Scan barcode
littlelizzieborden's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism
calamitydane's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
le_mur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Gaslighting
sage_bee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent
All of this except the suicide, sex, and homophobia are done in a very gothic horror way that I didn't feel was very intense. The only one that actually bothered me was the one very graphic sex scene.asha_m's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement
minervacerridwen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Overall I enjoyed spending time in this greenhouse and with the characters. Simon and Gregor are a queer couple living together in Victorian times, with relatable autistic and ADHD traits respectively. Gregor attempts to keep a stiff upper lip through some serious family trauma and tends to forget that the people around him have feelings too. Jennifer, the other main character, possesses a far more practical mind but not half the men's pride, and when she's put to work as the couple's housekeeper, she feels at home in their "strange" living arrangement. I liked the atmosphere of the story and the queer found family vibes. Finding comfort in the strange! I loved how two neurodivergent people living together would have managed to create a welcoming family for younger queer people from the village, if only it hadn't been for the botanist's pride. In that sense it can also be seen as a strong commentary on current society, where ambition and gatekeeping sometimes keep people from establishing fully accepting environments.
However, when I look back upon the book, it feels a little as if the author hadn't always taken clear decisions in what sort of story this should become, which made it hard to make sense of certain things
Simon knelt before him so he could look him in the eyes. He'd heard people like it when you make eye contact. It sounded improbable to him, and rather frightful, but he deferred to the popular opinion.
Some of the jokes were used one too many times or didn't work as well after the atmosphere of the story had shifted. The pacing suffered from a similar problem between the middle of the book and the end. Sometimes it felt as if Jennifer was on the brink of finding out something she shouldn't, only for that tension to fall flat without being picked up again.
At certain points I found myself wondering whether the fact that it was impossible to love a character as much as I did earlier in the story actually made them into complex characters, or whether that meant their decisions were just difficult to believe.
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
miss_snek's review
- 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
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Sexual content
chris_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
txikimandy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The characters are multi-faceted and sympathetic, even as they do highly questionable (at best) things. It’s as if Seymour Krelborn became Dr. Frankenstein.
I adored this book and I highly recommend it. It’s a stunning blend of fantasy and horror, but not dark enough that I couldn’t read it at night.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
renorsomethin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury