A review by orchidlilly
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Pretty good. The plot of a boy genius excelling beyond his peers and adults, and then saving the world but feeling alone while doing so reads as very much wish fulfillment for middle schoolers who think they're brilliant and have trouble making friends. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not at that point anymore,  and it makes certain sections a bit laughable. The best section is by far the last two chapters, with the bugger queen and the characters' healing. It has, as all half decent dystopian books should, a pretty strong anti-war sentiment, which I enjoy even if the supergenius child soldiers is a bit of a stretch. I'm not especially pressed to read the rest of the series, but it was a nice little jaunt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Suicide, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Classism