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torismazarine's reviews
124 reviews
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, and Infidelity
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Infertility, Blood, Cannibalism, and Abandonment
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Greta is an eager blacksmith apprentice who one day just so happens to save a tiny Tea Dragon in the market. After her family tells her who the owner most likely is, she goes to his shop to return it. There she discovers the art of caring for Tea Dragons and brewing their tea is dying, and is invited to learn it. Along the way, she makes relationships and memories that enrich her life and are extremely fun to read about.
I found the style of illustration to be impossibly cute (specially the little critters, I loved the Tea Dragons and Brick), and the colours are vibrant and fun. Even though this is a very short book, the narration feels steady and we get a good amount of background information and relationship development for (and between) our four main characters.
Something I think should be highlighted is how the author, as I mentioned, in such a short book, and with such a small cast of characters managed to make it so diverse so seamlessly, and I think it's not just because it's (light) fantasy.
I did find I was left wanting more, more character, plot, and relationship development, but I know this is hard to do with fully illustrated works like this one. So I guess it's a good thing there are a couple of companion stories I'm excited to read soon enough.
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Grief, and Medical trauma
Minor: Death
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Our main character (whom I didn't quite catch her name, but Google tells me is Zinnia) is a young woman, who since childhood has been diagnosed and struggled with an illness caused by an industrial accident. No one that had it has lived past 21; so her best friend, Charm, wants to make her 21st birthday special, sleeping beauty themed.
But when she pricks her finger with a spindle as a joke she finds herself travelling between realities, and ends up not in her own, but rather in another, with a tower and a young woman so beautiful it should be impossible, who tells her she was cursed by an evil fairy to prick her finger with a spindle and fall asleep for a hundred years. Sounds familiar yet?
So we follow them as they try to understand what is happening, how to deal with it, break their respective... curses, and then get back to life as normally as possible. But dear reader, we know it won't be so simple, the fairytale has already been thrown off it's tracks.
For such a short story I was surprised with the amount of world building it managed to fit in without making it confusing (especially since I would consider it, yes, fantasy, but also a bit sci-fi); I thought the main characters were well built, their motivations and growth steady, I did think the secondary characters were a bit stereotypical, but I don't care much because it's a short fairytale retelling. I absolutely loved the relationship within, specially the friendship between Zinnia and Charm, I think it's beautiful.
About the (audiobook) narrator, at the very start (say, the first half chapter), I wasn't convinced and honestly a bit confused, but I think this was entirely my fault, because I was listening to the audiobook while focusing my hands on packing up. But that quickly went away and I really enjoyed the narration as well, so, if you're a bit confused at the start too, just give it one or two chapters.
This is an amazing story, short, and funny, but also a bit dark (as fairytales often are), that serves as good entertainment and also, a remainder that life is short, that it often isn't fair, but there's things worth keep on going for (like this series, I'm really excited to continue it).
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death and Medical content
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
4.25
Graphic: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and Kidnapping