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lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed reading most of the book. It's a short and quick read, so there is not much time to flesh out all characters equally. But I really liked the two protagonist. It was easy to care for them and I loved their friendship a lot.
There are some really questionable things in the book though, mostly due to its age, I guess. So I wouldn't really recommend it for children these days. The way fat shaming is used, or child abuse is handled, are harmful in my opinion.
I also didn't love the ending, I've definitely seen better examples of handling this topic. But it did make me emotional (although I saw it coming because the movie makes people sad).
There are some really questionable things in the book though, mostly due to its age, I guess. So I wouldn't really recommend it for children these days. The way fat shaming is used, or child abuse is handled, are harmful in my opinion.
I also didn't love the ending, I've definitely seen better examples of handling this topic. But it did make me emotional (although I saw it coming because the movie makes people sad).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse
wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Bridge to Terabithia is a story about two kids bullying everyone they don't like, choosing fat people as their prime target. For the majority of the book, I kept hoping that this was going to be part of their character development, but the resolution is weak. Instead of learning to actually care about other people's feelings, they only give characters who are suffering other hardships a pass while continuing to body shame the characters they haven't deemed worthy of their kindness. Sympathy for people suffering is of course a good message, but "fat people don't deserve sympathy unless they're suffering" is just not right.
The grandest statement the author makes is that boys can like drawing and girls can wear pants. That's weak feminism even for the time because she still actively cuts down fat women and girls at every opportunity. It's excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, she sends a bad message to victims of child abuse. This book's advice to kids suffering from an abusive home life is to "not mix personal life with school life" because "everyone will laugh at you and think you betrayed your parents" and "if your parents beat you up, get over it! it's not a big deal! it happens to everyone!"
This book had promise to it. There's a story in there about Jess learning to be more confident and processing his fears, then losing his friend and having to process that grief. Maybe there's even a story in there about learning to understand other people as well as yourself, but it's so fumbled by the attitudes of the author and the time period it was written in. As it stands, the ending is the most well-written part of this book.
The grandest statement the author makes is that boys can like drawing and girls can wear pants. That's weak feminism even for the time because she still actively cuts down fat women and girls at every opportunity. It's excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, she sends a bad message to victims of child abuse. This book's advice to kids suffering from an abusive home life is to "not mix personal life with school life" because "everyone will laugh at you and think you betrayed your parents" and "if your parents beat you up, get over it! it's not a big deal! it happens to everyone!"
This book had promise to it. There's a story in there about Jess learning to be more confident and processing his fears, then losing his friend and having to process that grief. Maybe there's even a story in there about learning to understand other people as well as yourself, but it's so fumbled by the attitudes of the author and the time period it was written in. As it stands, the ending is the most well-written part of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death, Death, Cancer, War, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Car accident
nikexistiertnik's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
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? Yes
3.75
what can i say, i knew i'd be crying in the end.
all the body-shaming made the book unenjoyable at times, and it's pretty clear from the beginnin that leslie fits perfectly into the manic pixie dream girl trope.
hated the part about god and jesus, how the fck is that beautiful; i wish leslie would've elaborated a bit, because WHAT?
i didn't expect there to be narnia references, but now i am even more excited to finally read it, it's sitting on my shelf, impatiently waiting for me to pick it up.
all the body-shaming made the book unenjoyable at times, and it's pretty clear from the beginnin that leslie fits perfectly into the manic pixie dream girl trope.
hated the part about god and jesus, how the fck is that beautiful; i wish leslie would've elaborated a bit, because WHAT?
i didn't expect there to be narnia references, but now i am even more excited to finally read it, it's sitting on my shelf, impatiently waiting for me to pick it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Fatphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death
meetmeinthebookstore's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse and Car accident
iris_irene's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse and Misogyny
17kmcollins's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse
bookishandjoyceful's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was about an unexpected friendship and an escape to a magical world. We meet Jess and Leslie, two young kids who become neighbors and build a friendship through their school interactions and Leslie being an outgoing girl. I do have to admit I had some different expectations to this book going into it. I had never read this before, nor have I seen the movie, but in reading this I expected to be dropped into Terabithia with more magical language and scenery and not just noted about the characters throughout the book. I enjoyed Jess and Leslie’s unlikely friendship and how they themselves broke expectations. I know this is a beloved book, however, it just didn’t live up fully to the magical expectations and misconceptions I had going into it.
Have you ever had a book where the expectation of what you thought the book would be like was not met? I am not even sure where I got this expectation from, I think just hearing about this book in the past set me up thinking we were about to dive headfirst into a magical world and that was a little more on the outskirts of this book. I definitely wanted to love this story more than I did in the end.
Have you ever had a book where the expectation of what you thought the book would be like was not met? I am not even sure where I got this expectation from, I think just hearing about this book in the past set me up thinking we were about to dive headfirst into a magical world and that was a little more on the outskirts of this book. I definitely wanted to love this story more than I did in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Child abuse
lennatheunicorncat's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child death, Grief, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Fatphobia, Bullying, and Body shaming
quasinaut's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I knew nothing about this book going in except that something sad happens towards the end. I loved the writing, the way Katherine Paterson captured Jess's emotions and inner self -- but I wasn't pulled in by the story as much as I had hoped to be.
Perhaps I'd have liked it more had I read it when I was younger, but I can't quite pinpoint what didn't work for me. There are especially some aspects -- the portrayal of Jesse's sisters as frivolous and spoiled; the lack of description of Terabithia as an imaginary escape; the casual mentions of child abuse and homophobia -- that either didn't hold up or made the book feel less than fully realized. Though, I was pleasantly surprised at Jesse's father in the final chapters of the book!
Perhaps I'd have liked it more had I read it when I was younger, but I can't quite pinpoint what didn't work for me. There are especially some aspects -- the portrayal of Jesse's sisters as frivolous and spoiled; the lack of description of Terabithia as an imaginary escape; the casual mentions of child abuse and homophobia -- that either didn't hold up or made the book feel less than fully realized. Though, I was pleasantly surprised at Jesse's father in the final chapters of the book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse and Homophobia
erniedresser's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Death