pedanther's reviews
486 reviews

The Patch of the Odin Soldier by Geoffrey Marsh

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It by Thom Hartmann

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Murder, War, Classism

Minor: Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, War

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Alcohol, Colonisation

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Slavery, Alcohol, Classism

Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

It's a first novel, and it's not without its faults, but the fact is it's much better than it needed to be and it's one of the few novelisations I re-read and enjoy for its own merits and not just for sentimental attachment to the thing it's adapting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, War

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pandemic/Epidemic

Mists and Magic by Dorothy Edwards

fast-paced

3.5

This book is an anthology of short stories and poems for children, so it should be noted that I'm coming to it several decades late. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot at the target age, but from here I found the stories mostly short and slight, and in many cases was already familiar with the element the story was relying on for novelty. There were a few that I thought stood out, in particular "Christmas Crackers" by Marjorie Darke and the editor's own contributions, "Night Walk", "Witch at Home", and "The Girl Who Boxed an Angel"; in retrospect, all stories where the author had put some extra work into characterisation and the protagonist wasn't just A Generic English Child. "Night Walk" is apparently an extract from a novel, which I'm now interested in reading the rest of.

Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Classism

Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Grief, Murder

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Toxic friendship

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Pandemic/Epidemic