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A review by watermelleon
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Reread - this was absolutely wonderful, but.
I feel very disheartened about the henchperson of no clear gender. I've tried to do a bit of reading around this, and I believe that handler is a strong queer ally with better representation elsewhere, but I'm not sure if the right balance was met between "there are horrible people in this world including transphobes" and "children are scared of this person because they can't figure out this person's gender." I would be concerned with a child reading this in terms of instilling the idea that being trans is not favourable - which is such a shame considering the other diversity on display within this book.
It also does not keep in line with the characters of the triplets, who are very neurodivergent coded, very intelligent and absolutely would not fear a trans person for being a bit mysterious.
I feel very disheartened about the henchperson of no clear gender. I've tried to do a bit of reading around this, and I believe that handler is a strong queer ally with better representation elsewhere, but I'm not sure if the right balance was met between "there are horrible people in this world including transphobes" and "children are scared of this person because they can't figure out this person's gender." I would be concerned with a child reading this in terms of instilling the idea that being trans is not favourable - which is such a shame considering the other diversity on display within this book.
It also does not keep in line with the characters of the triplets, who are very neurodivergent coded, very intelligent and absolutely would not fear a trans person for being a bit mysterious.
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia