meredith_i 's review for:

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

2.5

dark sad

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I'm glad I didn't read this as a kid. For one thing, it opens with main character being the only survivor of his litter. As a Sensitive Kid TM, that would have hit pretty hard, and it's basically par for the course. The worldview of this book is very dark and full of malevolence. In spite of the illustrations of the charming fairly tale mouse, this is more like an original Grimm version. Basically the first 3/4 of the book is characters being cruel to each other, because, we are told, it is in their nature. In the last quarter of the book, some characters redeem themselves, but it's only sweet if you can overlook the disturbing first sections. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Violence, Abandonment