allweatherreader's Reviews (187)

A very mixed bag, for me - mostly, these stories felt a little flat. I think there's some cultural depth that I'm missing , certainly. The collection is mostly horror, some more impactful than others. I think 'Scars' was the most effective.

Kiddo decided he'd rather read it when he's a bit older and I'm not particularly enjoying it, so stopping for now. 

Possibly harder work than most of his books, but I appreciate what Tchaikovsky is doing here; the experimenting and the references and somehow still managing to tug heartstrings (and describe a horrifying dystopia). Also appreciate that he came in with some hope. He didn't have to, and it's hard to come by at the moment. 

I really love finding middle grade fantasy that doesn't talk down to its audience; part of that is letting the threat level be quite high, but I think part of it is also letting the characters make serious mistakes and be realistic people, who don't always know best or even always do what's right. This author is good at that, and I thoroughly enjoyed this; it felt very much like a book I'd have loved as a kid (including a few off-colour moments that were totally fine [😬] in 2007 but wouldn't get past an editor now). Definitely some parts that I'd be careful to discuss with my kiddos if they were reading this, but nothing so terrible that I wouldn't let them read it, and really fun otherwise.