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coballe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood
Minor: Death, Racism, Murder, War, and Dementia
luly_sc'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Slavery, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Violence
jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Gore, Sexism, War, and Body horror
Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Gun violence, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Transphobia, Slavery, and Death of parent
lycheeteareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Death, and War
Moderate: Mental illness, Gun violence, and Slavery
Minor: Sexism
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What ultimately robbed it from being 5 Stars in my eyes is that it was too long! This book is fantastic but it didn't need to be over 800 pages. It is maddening how many times characters not sharing information with each other prevents the right action from occurring until hundreds of pages later. There was a point where I thought I was never going to finish this damn thing and I felt about it akin to a textbook I was reading for class. And then we finally get a large jolt of plot progression in the last ~150 so pages that was so satisfying it kept me from from going down to a flat 4 Stars.
Sidenote: this book contains period-typical racism, in both remarks made about Jewish people and one of our main PoV characters being a Black man in London in the early 1800's.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Mental illness, Grief, Classism, Murder, Animal death, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Racism, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Alcohol, and Sexism
Minor: Antisemitism, Transphobia, and Fatphobia
zephyrscape's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Colonisation and Racism
Minor: Xenophobia
robin_reads's review against another edition
Graphic: Classism, Misogyny, War, and Racism
leasaurusrex's review against another edition
Il me semble (en tout cas je l’espère très très fort) que l’autrice tentait de dénoncer le sexisme et le racisme du dix-neuvième siècle. Manque de pot pour nous, elle décide de le faire en écrivant quand même des descriptions racistes et en utilisant beaucoup trop le n-word (une fois c’est déjà trop, alors quand on finit par perdre le compte vu le nombre d’occurrences…). Ah et en oubliant d’avoir des persos féminins aussi.
À côté de ça, même si la plume est accessible et que l’histoire se suit sans trop de souci, il y a quand même un sacré manque d’enjeu. J’ai lu la première moitié du roman et je n’en retire que les choses suivantes :
— on a un vieux chieur qui fait du <i>gatekeeping</i> sur la magie mais qui veut aussi être celui qui la rétablit aux yeux du peuple ;
— on a un jeune aux dents qui raient le parquet et qui va forcément faire des bêtises ;
— ces deux-là et tous les messieurs qui les entourent brassent de l’air et se touchent et l’intrigue n’avance pas.
Du coup j’ai réalisé que je m’en fichais de connaître l’avenir de tout ce petit monde. Et ça c’est quand même mauvais signe.
Sans compter les petites <i>private jokes</i> sur l’Histoire et la rivalité franco-anglaise qui avaient plus tendance à me lasser qu’autre chose…
C’est dommage parce qu’il y avait du potentiel. Mais quitte à écrire un roman de fantasy sur une Angleterre où la magie existe, autant dénoncer <i>correctement</i> les oppressions ou carrément… idée audacieuse… les supprimer………..
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
clara_mai's review against another edition
3.5
- historical aspect well executed with lots of fun references (the Shelleys appear!)
- rich, gothic atmosphere
- lush descriptions of the faerie world and the magic
- writing style embodies historical period
- beautiful illustrations accompany the story
- narrative style keeps the characters at a distance
- little emotional impact
- would have liked to see critique of/commentary on British Imperialism as magic was constantly used in favour of the government
- although I think this needed to be a long book, it could have been a *little* shorter
- ending not really satisfying, feels like it doesn't do the rest of the story justice
now very interested in reading Piranesi, a significantly shorter and much more recent work by Susanna Clarke that I've had my eye on for a while
Graphic: Death, Racism, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, War, and Sexism
anniup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Sexism, War, Death, Racism, Murder, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Slavery and Mental illness