Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

5 reviews

tinyhands15's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was hard for me to finish, and I think I wanted it to be longer. I loved the concept and characters. Toward the end, though, neither of the main characters felt like they had enough time in the sun to fully ripen. I think there was a lot of unused potential in this story, and the result, for me, was feeling a rush to the conclusion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

cb1984's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The first act was pretty poor. It was just relentless bullying, one of the characters not really being sure about their powers and the other... sort of learning technology but not really? I didn't really feel like the lifelong friendship was really that believably established.

I probably enjoyed it a bit more after the first act. There were bits that felt rushed, but I enjoyed the character development, including the minor characters. But overall, my review is basically "Eh." It was fine. Nothing special. No idea why it was nominated for so many awards.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Bullying

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Drug use

walkie_check's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Body horror, Ableism, Deadnaming, and Abandonment

shadestate's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book was hard to read. So much bullying. So many technocentered decisions fucking up the environment even more. In many ways, it was too real.  Including a Muskrat billionaire treating 80% of humanity and all of the other life on earth as expandable. 

Got through the book by thinking of it as a horror novel. Would not recommend it to friends, as most of us are neurodivergent with a past of bullying, and don’t need to relive that hell again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Bullying

Minor: Forced institutionalization

maddibw's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

It was a fun and interesting read. And it certainly felt like a take on Sci-fi and fantasy that I haven’t read before which was cool. I will say that the summary in the flap of the book feels like it describes plot points that aren’t as significant to the book or don’t adequately summarize or encapsulate the book in the way I would have liked it to. Then again, I may not have read it and I enjoy it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, War, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Chronic illness, Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent