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spacedout_reader's review against another edition
2.75
I really liked the general style of the writing, but I found some of the characters, including Flavia, to be a bit inconsistent, and I felt like the mystery wasn't as tightly worked as it could have been. also, in the middle section with the dad's backstory, the racism was pretty distracting. I get that it's a period piece in England, but as far as I could tell it didn't add any meaning to the story and overall just added unpleasantness. I'm really not sure if this book is meant for tweens or adults, so I've added content warnings to my review as if it were for tweens (otherwise most of it would be pretty much par for the course in the mystery genre)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
Minor: Torture
schaferxv's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
2.0
Mild "spoilers"
I'd probably give this book a 4 star review if it weren't for the racism. I get that it's set in the 1950s but really? The depictions of "orientals" was just overtly offensive. Yellow face and all.
Flavors is cute and precocious but a bit much sometimes and while I know she's 11, her overlooking the most obvious suspect to me was a bit unbelievable.
A fun little story but nothing incredible.
I'd probably give this book a 4 star review if it weren't for the racism. I get that it's set in the 1950s but really? The depictions of "orientals" was just overtly offensive. Yellow face and all.
Flavors is cute and precocious but a bit much sometimes and while I know she's 11, her overlooking the most obvious suspect to me was a bit unbelievable.
A fun little story but nothing incredible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
tarataratara's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
sterlingreads's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
lportilla's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
minniestronni's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
The main character's father, a quiet, stiff upper lipped englishman, talks in a racist faux "chinese" accent while relating his backstory of being an amateur magician.kelseylian's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I loved the character of Flavia de Luce… but also this is a profoundly colonial book with some fairly blatant racism in it (yellow face) and that feels like a bummer for something written in 2007
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Cultural appropriation
White boys at a boarding school do a magic show in yellowface and fake accentsdead_vole_jumpscare's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0 stars. absolutely none. fuck this book. the majority of this book i spent hate-reading it. i get that you're gonna write about something in 1950 england, but just casually putting a bunch of very and overtly racist stuff with absolutely no external/built in critique is NOT it. i better not hear some bullshit about "accurately representing the time" you wrote an 11 year old that has an immense amount of knowledge of chemistry fuck outta here. if you include racism in your book, there should be an anti-racist point to it or else it's just reveling in a past where it was more acceptable to be overtly racist. there wasn't ANY character development, and even though flavia was a good character the plot was not actually all that interesting. i do not know why this got published. also, reading the goodreads reviews and NO ONE is mentioning how fucking racist this book is
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
kcampbell726's review
I stopped this book at the scene where they’re doing yellow face. I don’t care if it’s plausible for the given timeline…it is…but it doesn’t aid the narrative. It’s throwaway fun times racism and I don’t want to read that kind of garbage in modern books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
sarahagna's review
Flavia in this book is a little bit racist. Nothing absolutely horrific, but there are some slurs and micro-aggressive comments. I think the author probably tried to stay true to the setting of the the book, with it being set in the 1950s. But if a book is fiction, then it’s absolutely unnecessary for there to be racist language. It’s not the worst racism I’ve ever read, and definitely not worse than what they made us read in school (I’m looking at you Huckleberry Finn), and it can probably be overlooked if things like that don’t bother you. But if I am reading a fictional book, I don’t want any unnecessary racism, especially if it is nonessential to the story. I did however love the chemistry references in the book, as well as Flavia’s commentary on things. I have heard that the rest of the books in the series do not have anything derogatory in them, so I might try to continue the series, but I haven’t decided yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs