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stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Pregnancy and Police brutality
Minor: Miscarriage, Murder, and Death of parent
lokes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
The worldbuilding was a bit sloppy, but interesting, but plot and characters? Icky. Like, really bad.
Not only did it have tropes such as forced marriage and hints of pedophilia (as soon as the guy was always called a “man with his big hands; like a father; etc” and the woman described as “girl with small hands; being generally very young and clueless and in need of constant help”) I had a bad feeling and boy wasn’t I wrong.
I don’t know why so many people like a book which is filled with sexism, weird stereotypes, classism, racism and basically everything you don’t want to read about when it is normalized (or rather being glorified, because you just couldn’t catch a break when reading. It just kept coming)
I do feel like I need to apologize to the person I am now that I read this book because it wasn’t pleasant and I feel like I need to unlearn all of the very harmful stuff I just read about.
The writing style’s not bad though, I could have liked it without the weird content.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, and Confinement
kindredkayjay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I've seen the reviews of people disliking this book because of the way Ophelia is hardly treated like a person the entire time, and I understand it. Believe me, I was infuriated for Ophelia 95% of the time, but also? I'm hoping that she'll get herself to a place where she's proven herself and overcomes what she's faced with in the sequels. The tension between nearly all of the characters and the mystery and learning about the different magic systems with Ophelia was so interesting that I couldn't stop reading. I love a genuinely good hearted character, but what I love even more is a character so terrible that you want nothing more than to see their downfall. It's even more interesting when it's a small handful of decent (questionably decent anyway) characters entering a space full of the most vile people. If you don't enjoy being infuriated for the main character the entire time and hating just about everyone else, this book probably isnt for you. But if you do? Absolutely read it. I really liked it, and I'm reading the sequel soon.
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Classism, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Child death, Abandonment, and Infidelity
chloenrogers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Emotional abuse and Child abuse
amazelan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicide, Grief, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Infertility, and Sexual assault
lilawsahar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book has romance: sunshine grump troupe, no one can touch you but I troupe, unrequited love troupe, etc
Things to hopefully find out in the next book: Is Thorn a good person? Is Rosaline going home? Will Ophelia start reading the family book? Do thorn and Ophelia fall in love? What powers will the baby have? What’s the secret history of the book?
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, and Classism
joisaddler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, Incest, and Physical abuse
skudiklier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Child death, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Ableism, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
bialves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Alcohol, Classism, Hate crime, and Miscarriage
frern's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Alle Charaktere sind authentisch und einzigartig. Ihr Persönlichkeiten kommen sehr gut durch die Seiten durch.
Ophelia ist mir von Grund aus sehr sympathisch, man merkt wie ihr Charakter wächst, wie sie durch all diese "Prüfungen" geht und sie mehr oder minder meistert, wie sie selbst den Dingen auf die Schliche kommt, wie das Vertrauen zwischen ihr und Thorn immer wieder schwankt, aber letztendlich doch zunimmt. Thorn hingegen ist etwas undurchsichtiger.
Wie es bei vielen Protagonisten in vielen anderen Büchern der Fall, gehen mir ihre Mängel und Fehler auch nicht auf die Nerven. Nichts, wobei ich mir innerlich denken würde: "wie kann man so d**f sein?"
Den Cliffhänger fand ich nicht so gut, hätte mir ein vollendeteres Ende gewünscht, irgendwie kam da nichts mehr.
Auch wenn mir diese Art des Endes missfällt, wird das in Fantasyreihen wohl kaum verschwinden, wenn bereits im Vorfeld feststeht, es solle einen weiteren Teil geben.
Das Buch ist an sich leicht zu lesen, manchmal gibt es unangekündigte Ausstecher, wo man sich fragt, wo man gerade überhaupt ist, aber wenn man nochmal langsam nachliest, ergibt es durchaus Sinn oder es macht im Laufe der Erzählung Sinn. Wenn man neben seinem Fokus auf die Handelnden, auch die "alte Welt" im Hinterkopf behalten, klappt es auch.
Was einen vielleicht enttäuscht lassen könnte, ist, dass dieses Buch nicht der typischen Spannungskurve folgt. Zumindest ist es ungewohnt.
Eigentlich ist es durchwegs spannend, es passiert was, aber irgendwie auch ruhig.
Ich möchte meinen, diese Ruhe wird von Ophelia ausgestrahlt.
Jedenfalls ist diese Schreibweise definitiv mein Fall.
Persönlich fand ich das sehr angenehm, ich werde mir beim nächsten Büchereibesuch direkt den nächsten Teil besorgen.
Fazit:
Tolle Protagonistin, interessante Charaktere, ereignisreiche aber nicht überschwingliche Handlung, ruhige Erzählweise.
Moderate: Classism