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_alyssar_'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
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Child death, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
kaziaroo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's a shame to see that children's stories still rely on fatphobia and making fun of "ugly" people for humour, and there was a lot of stereotyping of what "good" and "evil" people look like – although a lot of this is critiqued by the narrative, there were some blurred lines: for example, while we are shown that being mean to Dot about her fatness is bad, the author also mentions her size nearly every time she appears, and her size and appetite makes up most of her characterisation. Thankfully, there wasn't a hooked nose in sight, unlike in the film.
While the plot dragged a bit in places, I really enjoyed the characters in this book and loved the portrayal of a character's descent into madness and the protagonists' respective identity crises. It was a really fun, if dark, read.
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Medical content, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Mental illness
samantha_06x's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The book does a good job of making you as a reader become invested in Sophie despite her questionable decisions and ultimately want a happy ending for the 2 main characters.
Lost a star as
As well as this when linking being evil to ugliness there will always be some issues as the concept of ugliness is inherently racist/abelist/fat-phobic. I don't think this was handled well with
Although the book is written for a younger audience I think anyone who enjoys fantasy books like Harry Potter will also enjoy this book.
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Kidnapping, Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Child death, Sexism, and Grief
_ren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
APPARENTLY, THE AUTHOR COMPLETELY RUINS IT IN THE 2ND BOOK, SO I WILL NOT BE READING THE REST OF THE SERIES.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Torture, Sexism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, War, Vomit, and Violence
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia