History YMMV / Chrestomanci

* DiagnosisOfGod: Cat's social difficulties, tendency to get stuck on small details when stressed, his low stress threshold in general, his trouble reading others' emotions, and his frightened resistance to change all suggest he be autistic. Given the setting it's never fully clarified in-universe, but Diana Wynne Jones has said in interviews that he is on the spectrum.

* HarsherInHindsight: Most of the class bullies anyone who's suspected to be a witch. This can be attributed to FantasticRacism until [[spoiler: it's revealed that most of said bullies are witches, themselves, and know it]].

* ValuesDissonance: Michael spanking Gwendolen with a boot and openly enjoying it, and Chrestomanci boxing Cat's ears hard for not stopping Gwendolen, who's dominated him his whole life, would be considered abusive by some nowadays, but maybe not in the 1970s when Charmed Life was written

* CrazyAwesome: Angelica Petrocchi. She would not be nearly as effective if she wasn't tone-deaf. She may not be actually nuts, but as Renata put it, she's a "back-to-front genius."

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Some people, [[spoiler:like Gwendolen]] are born incurable sociopaths who despite being raised by loving, non-abusive parents [[spoiler:will become cold-blooded murderers while they're still children]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: some people, [[spoiler:like Gwendolen]] are born incurable sociopaths who despite being raised by loving, non-abusive parents [[spoiler:will become cold-blooded murderers while they're still children]]

* ValuesDissonance: Michael spanking Gwendolen with a boot, for Christ's sake, and openly enjoying it, and Chrestomanci boxing Cat's ears hard for not stopping Gwendolen, who's dominated him his whole life, would be considered abusive by some nowadays, but maybe not in the 1970s when Charmed Life was written

* UnfortunateImplications: Michael clearly enjoys spanking Gwendolen, an attractive pubescent girl, and says he's been "itching" for Chrestomanci to allow him to. Which to this troper has creepy undertones of sexual sadism and hebephilia.

* AdultsAreUseless: Is it just me, or did [[spoiler:Chrestomanci (and Millie, Michael, the rest of the staff) do a terrible job handling Gwendolen and Cat?]]
CrazyAwesome: Angelica Petrocchi. She would not be nearly as effective if she wasn't tone-deaf. She may not be actually nuts, but as Renata put it, she's a "back-to-front genius."

FridgeHorror: The fates of the Living Asheths that Mother Proudfoot wasn't able to rescue.

* CrazyAwesome: Angelica Petrocchi. She would not be nearly as effective if she wasn't tone-deaf. She may not be actually nuts, but as Renata put it, she's a "back-to-front genius."

* FridgeHorror: The fates of the Living Asheths that Mother Proudfoot wasn't able to rescue.

** In ''The Pinhoe Egg'', Marianne's father and uncles cross it when it's revealed that, rather than [[spoiler:kill their father under their mother's orders when he starts getting too uppity]], they [[spoiler:merely crippled his legs and imprisoned him in a pocket dimension in the woods behind his house for ''eight years'']]. They felt it was kinder.

** In ''The Pinhoe Egg'', Marianne's father and uncles cross it when it's revealed that, rather than [[spoiler:kill their father under their mother's orders when he starts getting too uppity]], they [[spoiler:merely crippled his legs and imprisoned him in a pocket dimension in the woods behind his house for ''eight years'']]. They felt it was kinder.

* CanonSue: Cat post ''Charmed Life''. His CharacterDevelopment works a bit too well and by the time ''The Pinhoe Egg'' is over, he becomes pretty Sue-ish. He's the most powerful magic user in all the multiverse, good at almost everything he tries and liked by everyone he meets who isn't evil.

* HarsherInHindsight: Most of the class bullies anyone who's suspected to be a witch. This can be attributed to FantasticRacism until [[spoiler: it's revealed that most of said bullies are witches, themselves, and know it.]]

** In ''The Pinhoe Egg'', Marianne's father and uncles cross it when it's revealed that, rather than [[spoiler:kill their father under their mother's orders when he starts getting too uppity]], they [[spoiler:merely crippled his legs and imprisoned him in a pocket dimension in the woods behind his house for ''eight years'']]. They felt it was kinder.

** In ''The Pinhoe Egg'', Marianne's uncles cross it when it's revealed that, rather than [[spoiler:kill their father under their mother's orders when he starts getting too uppity]], they [[spoiler:merely crippled his legs and imprisoned him in a pocket dimension in the woods behind his house for ''eight years'']]. They felt it was kinder.

** In ''The Pinhoe Egg'', Marianne's uncles cross it when it's revealed that, rather than [[spoiler:kill their father under their mother's orders when he starts getting too uppity]], they [[spoiler:merely crippled his legs and imprisoned him in the woods behind his house for ''eight years'']]. They felt it was kinder.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: ''This knitting - is really two little caretaker's dogs.''
** Pretty much anything Simon does during the Simon Says spell.