Preamble: MMV, I am not saying your reaction/take is WRONG, just sharing mine.
For me as a child Terabithia was the same as the others because the position of the book, of the narrative, was still that This Was Make Believe, and also had (for me) this strong undercurrent that even if ~*the idea of magic*~ was maybe important, that Make Believe was important, it was important ~*for kids*~, and had the undercurrent that it was potentially dangerous, and mostly just made me feel judged and condescended to.
Which actually was what put me off it much more than the actual tragedy: its framing of "the magic" felt belittling to me, like oh of course this isn't REAL. (Mind I was already highly sensitized to this feeling by both other books and real-life interactions! But yeah.)
no subject
For me as a child Terabithia was the same as the others because the position of the book, of the narrative, was still that This Was Make Believe, and also had (for me) this strong undercurrent that even if ~*the idea of magic*~ was maybe important, that Make Believe was important, it was important ~*for kids*~, and had the undercurrent that it was potentially dangerous, and mostly just made me feel judged and condescended to.
Which actually was what put me off it much more than the actual tragedy: its framing of "the magic" felt belittling to me, like oh of course this isn't REAL. (Mind I was already highly sensitized to this feeling by both other books and real-life interactions! But yeah.)