Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari

"Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to accept, but, as Harari explains in his trademark style—thorough, yet riveting—famine, plague and war have been transformed from incomprehensible and uncontrollable forces of nature into manageable challenges. For the first time ever, more people die from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals put together. The average American is a thousand times more likely to die from binging at McDonalds than from being blown up by Al Qaeda.

What then will replace famine, plague, and war at the top of the human agenda? As the self-made gods of planet earth, what destinies will we set ourselves, and which quests will we undertake? Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century—from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers? This is the next stage of evolution. This is Homo Deus."

Homo Deus is an attempt to make a sequel to the wildly popular (and actually quite good) "From Animals into Gods" - its main thesis is that in the 21st century, liberal humanism would progress into "techno humanism"; and that humanity's main efforts would be to upgrade humans into godlike cyborg entity. 

In order for transformations to be made, the author argues we need to change our mindset and expectations and maybe even our concept about individualism. While that may be true, I was hoping to hear more about the future, the tomorrow in Harari’s subtitle, than the past. The final quarter of the book did focus on that tomorrow (what the job market might look like, whether man or some people in the job market might end up being completely superfluous, the future role of AIs in our society etc.), but I would have preferred more of that analysis earlier in the book. 

Harari's insights into the uses and future of computer/ human interactions was interesting but not all that original. The insight into some of the current statistics such as suicide and disease was simultaneously uplifting and depressing. The points where well put together and the ideas where shared in a coherent and concise way. 

Age Rating 14+. There is nothing untoward in this book it just has complex technical jargon. If you are younger then the specified age and want to give it a go, go for it. 

The Sun and her Flowers - Rupi Kaur

"From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honouring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms."

This is my first foray into the world of Rupi Kaur and to be honest I have mixed feelings. 

Her simple language and short sentence poems hit hard and let the reader fill in the blanks form their own history and pain. The sections on immigration hit me surprisingly deeply, coming from an immigrant family myself.

You get the impression Rupi is still learning how to be a woman and an adult. She's still trying to find her place in the world.  It's simple yet also very beautiful. Rupi illustrates her poems with simplistic drawings that help to get her point across. This latest collection touches on sex, abuse, culture, religion, gender etc. The stand out poem is called Home. This poem is striking and quite frankly amazing. It's worth getting the book just for this poem alone. The use of description within this piece is just outstanding. A truly phenomenal piece of writing. It's not a pleasant read but it's a poem I believe every woman should read no matter what their circumstances are. Rupi has the ability to pack a hearty punch even when she is only writing a short poem. 

However I found some of the poems a little too short/ vapid and recognised them from other modern authors. I also found it difficult to separate her personal experiences from a "collective" trauma of her female South Asian ancestors. Obviously this would make it no less valid but I would still be interested to know who the poems are truly about. 

Age Rating 15+. Very mature content. 

The Crimson Petal and the White - Micheal Faber

"Sugar, 19, prostitute in Victorian London, yearns for a better life. From brutal brothel-keeper Mrs Castaway, she ascends in society. Affections of self-involved perfume magnate William Rackham soon smells like love. Her social rise attracts preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all kinds."

I've been of the mind recently that there is something slightly worse than bad. And that is: almost. Bad, one can deal with. Almost is harder. Almost teases you with what could have been, only to disappoint you with what is. Almost is wasted potential. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber almost lives up to its promise.

I was drawn into the novel by seductive narrative voice leading me down the streets of Victorian London. It was a little bit cinematic and a little bit Dickensian, and I was immediately enthralled. Crimson Petal tells the story of Sugar, a 19-year-old prostitute who is renowned in London for doing everything. There is no depravity too extreme, as long as she's getting paid for it. Yet, that's not what makes Sugar truly interesting. She's interesting, because while she was raised in prostitution, she's literate and reads voraciously. She's also an aspiring novelist, hoping to better the plight of prostitutes by exposing their ills (and their secret vengefulness) to the world through her prose. Meanwhile, on the other side of London, there resides the Rackham family, and at its head, William Rackham, heir to a perfume company.

It's his meeting and subsequent infatuation with Sugar that's supposed to be the main story, but Faber packs the novel with intricate "secondary" characters that are much more interesting: Agnes, William's addled, very Catholic wife; Henry Rackham and Emmeline Fox, William's brother and the unorthodox humanitarian he loves; little Sophie Rackham, forced into observing her household rather than taking part in it; and Caroline, Sugar's soulful prostitute friend. I loved the characters and this is definitely a character driven plot. Sugar is feisty and relatable. William, is a man at once so self centred that you want to slap him and instantly recognizable. Henry and his inner torment was captivating and wonderfully frustrating. 

All of their stories are so captivating that it must have seemed a daunting task to do them all justice...so Faber opted not to try. Instead, the lives of the supporting characters peter out with no resolution, good or bad. Now, we all know that life is not a neatly packaged thing. Situations don't resolve themselves perfectly, and one could argue that the "point" of this book is that that's how life is. However, that "rationale" for ending things with no change or resolution has more often than not seemed like a cop-out to me.

I loved the narrating style of the omniscient person leading the reader through the story. Both invisible and unseen to the characters. I love getting into the heads of as many of the key players as possible. However, perhaps in this case, I just didn’t want to dally within these minds for quite so long! (This book is enormous!!) I guess there’s a limit to my curiosity about my fellow human beings. It felt like an absolute slog and I had to keep taking myself into picking it up again. Would have been amazing in half the size. 


Age Rating 16+. Sex, talk of sex, thoughts of sex are abound. A word of warning to the more sensitive reader – you may need to stomach more than your desired share of descriptions of a variety of bodily functions and fluids in this book! 

A Court of Wings and Ruin - Sarah J Maas

"Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's manoeuvrings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit – and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places."

The more I read of these books the more embarrassed I get. I personally enjoyed to a certain extent both of the last books but this one, this one got under my skin, and not in a good way. 

Let's start with the plot. There almost isn't one. The book can be broken up into three parts, 1 where Feyre is in the Spring court. I was disappointed at the wasted opportunity for some underhanded manipulation here. After how the last book ended, Feyre was kind of "undercover" at the start and in a position for lies and deception. Except it was mostly her swanning around and quietly seething to herself about how much she hated Ianthe and how much of a douche Tamlin is. I thought this whole part was boring when it should, and could, have been extremely tense, exciting and badass.

Part 2 is the largest section of the book. The strategizing and alliance building between courts and potential allies. I think the worst thing was the overall pacing. It's a long book, but I can normally sprint through Maas's works in a day, yet here it was such a slog. While it was great to see the other High Kings, it lacked a pull, a sense of urgency, some kind of tension to make me need to know what happens next. 

Finally Part 3, the actual war. So boring and there is no real sense of threat to any of the characters. The amount of random people and dramatic entrances that show up is belittling and frustrating. It's like the moment when the Riders of Rohan show up at Helms Deep but think of that happening, like, 5 times in one battle. Like by number 2 I don't care anymore. At least Feyre is brave and strong, though. Which is why she’s “too tired” to do anything after a loooong day of watching other people fight in a battle, followed by Mor winnowing her home. So courageous. How does she do it!!! I am not going to even talk about the whole Rhysand dying then coming back debacle. It was underhanded and completely unnecessary. 


Now I need to talk about the one thing I really, really detested and feel so embarrassed writing about. The cringy, cringy smut. If I have to hear the word growled ever again I will throw something. I found myself skipping whole pages out of sheer self preservation. Thanks for turning me off hetero sex forever I guess. I'm not even being dramatic this time, it was legitimately so bad that with every passing page, I've become more and more convinced that I had died and was atoning for my sins in hell. Guys, you're not defined by your genitals you paint your future with your actions starting with THAT GODDAMN WAR YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STRATEGISE FOR???? At least don'T DO IT IN THAT GODDAMN LIBRARY FOR WOMEN THAT HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED??? 

The sloppy writing continued outside of the bedroom/library. Adjectives and descriptive passages where overused, overwrought and felt copied and pasted. The amount of times something or someone "unleashed themselves" are too many to count.

Maybe if a copyeditor had found the strength to make it through this book, they could have stopped the way SJM insists on using the term “Hybern.” IT MEANS SO MANY THINGS. “Hybern” is used as the nomer of the evil king, the word for his people, the name of his kingdom, and the title of the land it’s situated on. That is just...basic bad worldbuilding, no?

I have always really enjoyed the way that Maas tries to make her books feel feminist and empowering to women. So it’s an utter shock that this narrative also lives nearly entirely within the bounds of gender roles. Reading about men (Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, all the high lords) fighting in battle while the women (Feyre, Mor, Elain, Nesta, Cresseida) watch and tend to the wounded later is so refreshing. Doesn’t make me want to blow my brains out at all.

And no, Mor being assigned to babysit Feyre later on, only heading into battle because Feyre tricks her into fighting so she can sneak away does not make it better, thanks.This is definitely, certainly the feminist YA fantasy you’ve been waiting for, folks.

One of the main points of Feyre's character arc should be her discovery of independence and of her inner strength, of the fact that she doesn't necessarily need anyone, especially a man, to guide and direct her every step. A shame the impression we get from the whole series is the very opposite: Feyre's character growth (not automatically meant as an upward trajectory) seems to be irreversibly connected to the "male" who is (even virtually) at her side. In this book, she and Rhysand are pretty much a single entity. Can I feel a tinge of outrage at this, please? We women are very able to be complete on our own, thank you very much. The whole "mating system" (I can't even, it's too ridiculous) has me not exactly convinced in this regard too.

Morrigan, once a mysteriously broken character with hidden depths, now just represents the worst bisexuality rep I’ve ever read. Letting a close friend of yours pine after you for decades because it would be "too awkward" to tell him you like girls. I mean how selfish and self centred can you get? I was horrified. 


I’m not gonna lie, this book nearly scored some points when they unleashed those underworld gods (yeah the bone carver/his twin sister/and that scary shadowy thing were really fucking cool) but then Maas just killed them off... so easily. Another funny thing, Elain managed so easily to stab the King of hybern, the terrifying big bad, and finish him off but those ancient creatures went down faster than you can say mmmkay. The power system and hierarchy are shot to hell in this book. It makes no sense. 

The tear of utter salt that mists my eye whenever I think of what this book did to Amren. Amren in acomaf was this badass unknown creature who had no real responsibilities besides putting god's fear in people and drinking A-class blood, but as it turns out, everything good was fake, I wanted her to wreak havoc, I wanted her to morph into her true calamitous self, I wanted a fucking dragon companion.... But one battle and she dies?? I mean what reason was there for an all powerful angel that has just been unleashed and wasn't injured in anyway to die?? AND DOn't even get me started on Varian, IM SORRY BUT WHERE THE HELL DID HE COME FROM??? that was so random?? just as random as Lucien's father?? where's the fucking build up?? Excuse my French. 

To finish it all off I've never seen such a cheesy ending. It felt like I had just swallowed a monumental bucket of melted sugar and I couldn't even breathe because the very air got stuck to the sticky back of my throat. Basically it made me finally understand that Maas's main interest was to make sure none of her precious babies got so much as a scratch. They all come out fine, not a hair out of place. 

Overall the entire story felt rushed and at the same time achingly slow. I didn't feel any real threat to the world or characters. Definitely my least favourite of the trilogy. Feyre's abilities are put on the back burner and she is renegaded to dutiful wife and supporter. Rhysand is unbelievably and frustratingly perfect. No human being is that wonderful and I felt like I was listening to a traumatized ken-doll talk. 

Age Rating 17+. The unbelievable amount of sex scenes. These two really need to be stopped.

The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

"Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself."

The story-line started off quite tragic, with Jude's parents being brutally killed off from the bat. From that, I was expecting some kind of revenge story, or emotionally harrowing character development, because to witness that when you're young will obviously take a toll.

But no. That wasn't explored. Right off the bat, our main character goes on to enter some kind of tournament she has no experience in whatsoever. There's nothing ingrained within her to take on this challenge, no power she embodies, intellectually or physically. She is spactaularly mediocre. Whilst it took place, all I kept thinking about was how flimsy the battle was, neither did it feel complete. Just rushed. 

The political intrigue was when things started hotting up for me, but even that wasn't the most complex or brutal of story lines. Jude definitely came into her own and started manoveuring with aplom.  

Beneath her frail mortal body and her too-short lifespan, Jude was a hungry, ruthless beast craving power, scheming, betraying, and wanting with a fiery need to become one the creatures that tortured her and rejected her. I was rooting for her to an extent, if only to teach those awful fae that expendable humans can outmanoeuvre them, but she really needs to calm down, this hunger consumed her thoughts and didn't leave place for other, more pleasant sentiments. Don't get me started on her parade of stupid decisions.

Cardan , one of the fairy princes, was not better, he is an interesting and occasionally fun character but that doesn't erase the fact that he's cruel, irresponsible and petty, a true bully. Madoc, Locke, Dain, Taryn, they were hideous, but let me tell you this, that is not a bad thing. Sure, I didn't particularly connect with any of them, but this detachment liberated me from the usual fear for their lives, or sorrow for their misfortunes, only the occasional anger and disgust. 

As in all Holly Black books it was the writing that won me over. Her writing was beautiful and her descriptions of fairyland and its inhabitants made me want to jump around in happiness. The world Holly Black painted, with her lush descriptions, the revels and the colourful creatures that came straight out of a storybook is a place worth visiting, and cherishing. 

Overall a great summer read to fill your head with beautiful images but not overwhelm you with an emotional plot. Will be reading the rest of the series to see what goes down. 

Age Rating 13+. Drinking, murder, torture (mild) and humiliation. 

Whitstle in the Dark - Emma Healey

"Emma Healey follows the success of her #1 internationally bestselling debut novel Elizabeth Is Missing, winner of the Costa First Novel Award, with this beautiful, thought-provoking, and psychologically complex tale that affirms her status as one of the most inventive and original literary novelists today.

Jen and Hugh Maddox have just survived every parent’s worst nightmare.

Relieved, but still terrified, they sit by the hospital bedside of their fifteen-year-old daughter, Lana, who was found bloodied, bruised, and disoriented after going missing for four days during a mother-daughter vacation in the country. As Lana lies mute in the bed, unwilling or unable to articulate what happened to her during that period, the national media speculates wildly and Jen and Hugh try to answer many questions.

Where was Lana? How did she get hurt? Was the teenage boy who befriended her involved? How did she survive outside for all those days? Even when she returns to the family home and her school routine, Lana only provides the same frustrating answer over and over: "I can’t remember."

Whistle in the Dark is a slow burning mystery where the mystery is an afterthought. The synopsis of this book intrigued me. Unfortunately, Whistle in the Dark is an incredibly slow moving, boring mystery that doesn’t deliver.

Whistle in the Dark focuses on Jen as she tries to help her daughter, Lana, recover from being lost in the woods for four days. Jen becomes obsessed with figuring out what happened to her daughter. As the novel progresses, Jen becomes more and more paranoid and neurotic.

Healey focuses on Jen’s paranoid and neurotic thoughts and behaviors, but does little to create a worthwhile reading experience. Instead, the novel becomes a by the numbers story as Jen discovers a clue, obsesses over it, and repeats. At the same time, Healey’s portrayal of a dedicated and scared mother is well written. Jen does everything in her power to help her child, but always falls short. For this reason, it seems as if there are two different novels within Whistle in the Dark competing for space. One of the novels is a contemporary story about a mother’s desperate and frantic search for answers on how to help her teenage daughter suffering from depression. The other novel is a mystery about a mother’s despairing search for answers about her teenage daughter’s disappearance. I understand what Healey was attempting to accomplish, alas the execution was lacking.

The only reason I read the novel in its entirety was to find out what happened in those four missing days. Unfortunately, the reveal is catastrophically lackluster and should have been obvious from the first few chapters.

Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

"When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomach-ache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown."

It's about three sisters, three queens, essentially competing for the throne. They - Katharine, Arsinoe and Mirabella - each live in different parts of the land, each have a different power, and each have a different group of supporters aiding them. This is an "in every generation, there are three chosen ones..." kind of thing. However, throughout the generations, only one sister can claim the throne, and she must do so by murdering the other two.

In this case, Katharine is a poisoner who wields deadly cocktails; Arsinoe is a naturalist - at one with nature and animals - and not very good at it (nobody expects her to win the throne); Mirabella is an elemental and clearly the strongest of the three, her powers by far the most developed.

It sounds quite exciting, but it is far too slow and quiet a telling for such a nasty premise. The first three quarters are just boring. They needed a shot of excitement. Most of the book consists of the girls honing their skills in their own private locations and having flirtations with their love interests. It is painfully hard to not yawn, put the book down, and go find something more riveting to do. Like watching paint dry, for example.

I am not exaggerating. So little happens - there is no action, no drama, no excitement until near the end. And, by that point, how much do we really care? I don't know about you, but if I've spent most of a book being bored out of my mind, I'm not going to suddenly become invested when the pacing picks up.

The book flits between third-person perspectives and, truly, none of them are interesting. Arsinoe mostly wanders around being useless and watching the romance between Jules and Joseph. Mirabella repeatedly plays with the elements, conjuring earthquakes and towers of fire. Katharine is perhaps most interesting, but mainly because she's dealing with scars and blisters from the latest poison she's ingested. That should tell you something about the bar for excitement in this book - the highlights are when one of the characters is sick from poisoning. Problem is, the three queens don't really get their hands dirty for the most part. Their stories are not bloody and political like I hoped they would be, they are rather quiet and sometimes romantic.

The romance itself isn't good either. Each sister has her own POV and love interest, but because of the multiple-POVs, none of them are fleshed out. Other than the sisters, side characters like Jules and Natalia have point-of-view chapters, too. It's a curious mixture of too much going on yet nothing happens. While I'm glad each sister queen has the chance to tell her side of the story, the feeling is dampened when it becomes a detriment rather than an advantage.

 Joseph flings himself in front of a bear to protect Mirabella after knowing her for two days. TWO. DAYS. He is also an asshat of the highest order. He makes out with Mirabella, freaks out because he's cheating on Jules, then continues kissing her. What the actual fuck.  I fail to see what the point of this book was. What is the lesson here? Other than reading about horny brainless teenagers cheating left and right and dumb-as-hell girls being controlled by men because they weren’t given (by the author) the mental capacity to stand up for themselves. I mean, what does the reader get out of this horrid experience?

Perhaps it's the way Three Dark Crowns is written, but I couldn't relate to any of the sisters. It's third-person narrative at its worst, flat and emotionless. Plus, the sisters are individually insufferable. Katharine is a cowering sack of flour. Mirabella is a starry-eyed idealist with poor planning skills. Arinsoe reads like she's twelve and stamps her foot, pretending to be a strong female, but makes mistake after mistake.

Some of their plotlines make no sense. Take Katharine's for instance. She receives seduction lessons from Pietyr, nephew of her mentor Natalia, to ensure her sisters do not get suitors. What's the point? So Mirabella and Arinsoe don't get suitors at the Quickening, a festival after which they can begin killing each other. They're humiliated and will probably act more ruthlessly against Katharine during in the coming year. Getting a king-consort isn't essential to winning the crown. It's just a way to set up her romance. I would rather see her sabotaging her sisters to make up for her weak gift, or work through the Black Council to push through a law that determines only a poisoner can be crowned.

There's a brilliant opportunity for female friendship, which is absolutely squandered. Jules, through which we first see Arinsoe, could have been a real breakout character. Yet she seems more interested in her boyfriend Joseph than her BFF's impending death. One of the reasons Three Dark Crowns' premise appealed to me is that it could morph into a beautiful story of girl power and sisterhood. Sadly, Jules's storyline is reflective of the actual product.

On whole, Three Dark Crowns feels like a prequel. The last 20% is interesting and should have been put in the front after a few lead-in chapters, the romances woven along the excitement and danger of the Ascension Year. As it currently stands, we have to wait until the next book to see the queens fight it out. I will read the next book because of Arsione's reveal at the very end of the book and we will have to see if it hots up. 

Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward. Stock standard YA. 

The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden

"In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods..."

I absolutely adored this book. It is the perfect mix of atmosphere, mythology, folklore, feisty protagonists and religious obsession. All things I go mad for! 

Atmosphere in the Bear and the Nightingale is brilliant. It captures that feeling of uncertainty and superstition. The characters are somewhere between the old and the new; believing in modern religion but still deeply tied to the stories of old - the creatures that hide in the dark, the demons lurking in corners, the spirits living in the woods.

The protagonist is Vasya, a feisty, stubborn girl who always manages to find her way into adventure and, often, trouble. Quick-witted and rebellious, it's hard not to fall in love with her instantly. There's a sense throughout that she is at one with nature, belonging to the very setting of the novel - the wild, rugged landscape of her youth. She is most at home when running and playing in the woods. Vasya has always possessed the second sight, which made for some wonderful conversations with the various creatures living in and around her home, such as the domovoi. 

Soon, Vasya's gentle childhood - spent conversing with the domovoi and the vazila (who guards the stables) - is put to an abrupt end.

Her father remarries and while the new woman has the second sight, she interprets the gentle protective spirits as "demons" and hates and fears Vasya's more understanding approch, beliveing her to be consorting with Satan. In an effort to "protect" the now-teenage Vasya, her father (egged on and persuaded by her step mother) is trying to marry her off which doesn't go to well with the hard headed, free spirited Vasya showing her suitors up. 

To top it all, a priest moves into their house and is hell-bent (ha) on saving Vasya's soul but all he succeeds in doing is a lot of fear-mongering and weakening of the protective spirits. He quickly becomes obsessed, both romantically and religiously, with Vasya and her impertinence.

With the protective spirits dwindling because of the religious fear being stirred up by the Pastor, Vasya must face the ever increasing danger of the old gods - alone and armed with nothing by her sheer force of will.

I am interested to see how the connection/relationship between Morozko, the frost demon, and Vasya progresses in the next book. I am unsure whether it was meant to be romantic and if so how that would look between an immortal elemental being and a human girl. We shall see. 

Over all I loved it!! Definitely a favourite. 

Age Restriction 13+. Nothing untoward, a few Unpyrs (vampires) and an abusive step mother.