pedanther's reviews
486 reviews

The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Car accident, Classism

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

The Island of the Mighty: The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion by Evangeline Walton

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism

The Song of Rhiannon by Evangeline Walton

adventurous medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War

Minor: Child death, Genocide, Infidelity, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

The Children of Llyr: The Second Branch of the Mabinogion by Evangeline Walton

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Infertility, Racism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Classism

Prince of Annwn: The First Branch of the Mabinogion by Evangeline Walton

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It's beautifully written on a sentence level, but as storytelling I don't think it quite works. Some of the author's choices get in the way of becoming invested in the story (I was taken out of the story very suddenly the first time a character in a difficult situation turned out to be a deity playing a role, and that happened several times), and some of them come across more as the author's preoccupations getting an airing than as natural parts of the narrative. (The bits where the characters talk about humanity's future and are clearly commenting on the author's present don't work for me nearly as well as they apparently did for the person who wrote the foreword.) 

I already own copies of the complete tetralogy, so I might try the second book since it's there, but if this was the only one I had I wouldn't be motivated to seek any of the others out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Classism

The Scarlet Plague by Jack London

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Alcohol, War

Harley Quinn: Ravenous by Rachael Allen

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Classism

The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Islamophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury

The Leader and the Damned by Colin Forbes

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Classism