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bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.0
I have struggled with the Witches sub-series in almost every single book. (Except for Equal Rites, but I read that one several years before I really got into the Discworld books so I don’t think it counts.) I love the ideas, but I don’t so much love the characters or the plots. And that sentiment held with Carpe Jugulum.
Granny Weatherwax is still a mean old lady and one of my biggest issues with the series. Her excessive pride gets in the way so much and she’s incredibly frustrating. But I’m also not used to a Granny who can be scared and defeated and run away, which is also what happens here. There’s a dichotomy between everyone expecting Granny is indomitable and will fix it and the reality of her genuine limitations. It was a weird and not exactly pleasant experience to watch her be mean and prideful while running scared.
This was not a very character-centric story. They were there, but more as vehicles to push the story along than for actually getting any focus. Nanny Ogg was herself, as usual. I loved seeing Magret with a spine, but she was a very minor character. I liked Agnes, but she didn’t get any more nuance or growth here. A random priest of Om who gets dragged along on the witches’ antics got more focus as a person than any of the other characters (although to be fair, his religious consternation was extremely relatable).
The plot had some really good ideas. It was mainly “vampires are trying to take over and need to be stopped,” but these are, in true Discworld style, not your ordinary vampires. They flipped the tropes on their heads, and were neat for that. But the vampires themselves were obnoxious, and the plot dragged until the end. The climax and conclusion were really good, but everything before that was honestly a bit dull.
Reading this book, I generally felt like I was missing the point. There’s so many elements – religion, the power of names and words in general, royalty, tradition, the power of belief, and probably more – but they’re all mixed up together so there was no obvious central theme. I feel like there was supposed to be some point to the first three-quarters of the story, before it actually got entertaining in the last quarter, but I couldn’t find it. The humor traded Sir Terry’s wit and quips for humor in trope subversion, which didn’t always land. And I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to get out of this.
For a Witches book, it’s not bad. I generally find the subseries less fun than other Discworld books. But at least with this one, I never felt the urge to DNF it, and I did quite enjoy the last quarter of it. So on the whole, it’s fine. Not spectacular, but I’ve certainly read worse Witches books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Fatphobia
Minor: Body horror, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Death
Mind controlmadmilliner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
5.0
This is my favorite disk world so far. It really spoke to me, made me a cuppa, and told me I wasn't alone. It felt really good and I slowed down my reading pace to savor it a bit longer. I'm sure to reread it soon.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Bullying, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Ableism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
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