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chloe_walmsley's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment
psychedelics's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and War
Minor: Rape
acourtoffantasyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
To begin, we follow Carolyn and a few others, as they learn under "Father". He is teaching them each one of his 12 "catalogs" (war, animals, languages, etc.), and they may not study anything outside of their own.
For lack of better words, Father is their god. Now then, would would happen if god disappeared?
This story kind of has the vibe of an adult version of the scenes in Stranger Things, with Eleven and the other kids, and Papa.
This book is incredibly written. It's horrifying, darkly funny, and absolutely heartbreaking.
I think this story is about how no matter how much time you take to heal, trauma changes you, in ways that cannot be undone.
"She knew every word that had ever been spoken, but she could think of nothing to say that might ease his grief."
"Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it."
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Murder
sasisaskia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
fae346's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Death of parent
haleybel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Kidnapping, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
aquaphobia's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Carolyn is a Librarian at the Library. She and each of her siblings have their own catalogue, or area of interest, that they study as their Father prepares them for their role in life. To move further forward on their paths, they have to head out and interact with Americans to tackle the challenges coming their way. Steve, who is trying to lead a normal life, is pulled into Carolyn (and the Library's) schemes and it will change the course of his life.
This is such a hard book to describe. It's weird and incredibly unique. There are a number of horrific elements, especially surrounding how different characters treat one another. It's fantasy but it is also very squarely set in a version of the United States that resembles our own. I do think it is best to go into this novel knowing next to nothing as the story unfolds. Everything wrapped up really well at the end, which helped to boost how I felt about it because during the reading process it seemed to drag at points. For a section of the story, I really didn't care about Steve or understand why we were spending so much time with him. This is revealed later and made sense but it didn't stop the middle section of the novel from dragging out what felt like could have been a much quicker process. And yet, I do think it all works together. I think this is a great book for a book club because there is a lot to discuss. If Scott Hawkins writes another book in the future, I will definitely be interested in picking it up.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
scifi_rat's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic
halebop's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, and Suicide