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kaziaroo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The adult characters were well drawn but mostly one-dimensional. Oddly, the realistic scenes with Vidal and Carmen were much more impactful than the fantastical scenes with the Faun and the Pale Man. I've only seen clips of the film it's inspired by but I get the impression that the fantasy scenes that would have been chilling or even scary in the film were almost boring in the book.
I went in not knowing much about either the book or film and wasn't expecting so much direct portrayal of real-life war and fascism; judging from the cover (which has an image of Ofelia serenely hugging the Faun), I was expecting the fantasy to be more important to the main story rather than a series of possibly-imagined side quests that distract Ofelia from the awful events of her wartime life. I almost feel like the book shouldn't really be shelved in the fantasy section for that reason.
Overall, I was disappointed by this and would have DNFed if it had been any longer.
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, Child death, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage, Genocide, Gore, War, and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol and Rape
xiggy's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Drug use
naiu_cs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, and Grief