Kingdom of Little Wounds

[Jenni]

So, has anyone else read this one yet? What did you think of it? I agree that the writing is fantastic, and the fairy-tale qualities of the story are very well done, but there were so many red flags, I can't imagine shelving this in my middle school library. Thoughts?

[Jessica]

I really liked this book. I agree that it is definitely most appropriate for older teens though. I think that fans of books like George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers or Graceling by Kristin Cashore will totally dig it.

[Rebecca]

We don't have it yet, but I think I'll probably love it! At first I was skeptical about the subject but now I can't wait! Would you say it focuses more on plot or character?

[Mindy]

I'm on page 30 and I agree this is definitely not a middle school book. Even though I just started, there were parts where I had to stop and think, "Is she describing what I think she's describing?" I'm looking forward to getting into the story.

[Jessica]

Rebecca--that's a good question. I would say that it is more character-oriented. Though a lot is going on plotwise, the frequent shifts in perspective allow readers to learn a great deal about Ava and Midi (the two main characters) as well as many of the secondary characters.

[Kit]

Despite loving both LaFevers' and Cash or e's books, I just could not get into this one. I tried pre-challenge, so I'll probably try again, but I was just kinda bored. And I wasn't offended or freaked out by the plot details, maybe because they weren't described in a prurient fashion, but very detached and kind of vague in spite of the details (I'm thinking about the jewels).

[Carey]

I couldn't get into this book. I think it's very well written, but I can't get past the descriptions of disease. Blech. I can handle all kinds of gross stuff, but this was just too much.

[Jessica]

One of my coworkers is about halfway through and she was like "If I have to read one more time about the king sitting on the toilet I am just going to snap!"

[Rebecca]

I can't wait to read this but I downloaded a corrupt file from one of our digital book vendors and they can't seem to fix it. I find all the negative responses tantalizing.

[Debbie]

I just finished this. I would argue with the YA classification on this one, but less because of the content and more because of the language and how long you have to read before the book becomes un-put-down-able. I just don't see my students having the attention span to wait for the payout. (Kids who give up on something like The Hunger Games because it takes too long for people to start dying are not going to make it through this book!) This is not for middle school readers, but I could see some high school readers getting into it.

[Ama]

The writing of this book is solid. It's a very well crafted tale.

But...

I'm not even completely certain it is Teen. If I was to give it to a teen it would definitely be an older, mature teen. The sexual acts in the first half of the book gave me pause. So much within the first 150 pages! It wasn't that there is sex that bothered me. It was the acts (or near acts) described.

For those in public libraries, where do you have this title? Teen or Adult? I've seen that a few libraries do have it cataloged as an adult book.

[Hannah]

I agree; this was a tough one. It's. So. Long! I did think it was very well crafted and designed, and I like that the fantasy element was pretty non-fantastical - it reminded me of Game of Thrones, where it's pretty much just historical fiction in a made-up country, plus a couple fantastical elements. And this one has even fewer than GoT.

I did finish the book thinking that I found the book really hard, the way I would have complained about a homework assignment being hard in high school. It's one that I appreciate more in the abstract than I actually enjoyed reading, I think.

[Leah]

I really liked this book. It was definitely unsettling, but that made me like it even more--the worst thing I can feel for a book is indifference. I think the comparison to GoT is not bad; both share certain realities of medieval life and human nature. It was creepy and mature and confusing and intriguing and lots of other things. It's not for a casual reader, though--this one requires commitment the same way the GoT books do.

[Devera]

Blech...ugh...too many descriptions about too many gross bodily fluids and/or body parts. Yuck.