Scan barcode
thepinkladylazarus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Pregnancy, Torture, War, Violence, Death, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Grief
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
borrelvissie'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Gore, and War
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
hollsbookshelf's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Torture, War, and Violence
jenny_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
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
aneanara's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Torture
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Torture, Blood, Grief, War, Murder, and Sexism
Moderate: Gore and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Abortion, Vomit, Child abuse, and Cursing
bibliophilecats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Only good thing is the ending of Ofelia's story.
The mix of child's sort of innocent viewpoint with horror and gore did not work for me at all. No idea what the target audience/age demographic is supposed to be.
Cannot recommen.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual harassment
elysian's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
It was very slow to read at times. And some chapters where a pain to get through, as they were written from Vidals perspective (most despicable character ever written)
Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Torture, and Sexism