wildflowercrypt's reviews
123 reviews

i kept reading because i found the prose engaging and the atmosphere kinda cool, but this plot made very little sense, even for YA. the pages in the back refer to it as a “feminist Lord of the Flies” and i don’t know but that feels like overselling the story we do get, by a lot.

very little of importance happens in this story with only cursory explanations as to how or why. yeah, yeah, yeah,

climate change! parasite! the next big misstep in the evolutionary process!

but none of those things are explored in any kind of meaningful way; they serve as setting dressing, nothing more, and are almost immediately brushed over and moved past once revealed.

additional gripes w/ explicit spoilers:

what the fuck was that random-ass cooler in the middle of the woods about? it never gets brought back up. why was it there, with a vial of a non-cure inside??? felt like a dropped plot line. additionally, throughout the story, we see Hetty struggle immensely with guilt for keeping secrets, breaking quarantine, bringing the gas back to the school, etc. etc. etc. yet apparently she also has zero issue abandoning the other girls to be mauled to death by the bear. yeah, ok, cause that makes sense. also, how did the research team even know quarantine had been broken in the first place? Hetty and Reese were never caught; it’s never addressed: the research team just Knows, somehow, magically, that quarantine was broken. Hetty also gives Reese very little fucking time to cope with the fate of her father— whether that’s really him or not, watching your girlfriend (?) kill the last remaining vestige of your dad is going to fucking hurt. ofc she needs time to process that, don’t be an ass. ugh.

Content Warnings

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

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hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

this is the story of a girl who comes to live with her Grandmother on an island, after her own mother dies. although the story is not about that loss or the accompanying grief, you can still feel it in the room with you everywhere you go with Grandmother and Sophia; it lingers in the back of the mind, coloring the narrative and giving weight to what might seem an otherwise insignificant moment. The Summer Book played out like a movie (a Studio Ghibli movie at that) in my head, i could see it all so clearly; a new favorite i hope to re-read for many summers to come.

Content Warnings

Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

this book was so charming; i read this in chapters to my daughter before bed and she enjoyed it so much. both of us are looking forward to starting book 3, Finn Family Moonmintroll.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Paul McCusker

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

the best.

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Patricia Crampton, Astrid Lindgren

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this was such a cute story; read chapters of it to my daughter before bed and she really enjoyed hearing about Ronia and Birk’s adventures in Matt’s Wood.

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wildflowercrypt's reviews 123 reviews

wildflowercrypt's reviews
123 reviews