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raccoonteeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Outing, and Transphobia
Moderate: Genocide, Vomit, Classism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Toxic relationship, Racism, Toxic friendship, and War
dani_reis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexual content, Animal death, Sexism, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Eating disorder
Child deathsacredgriefsociety'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? Yes
3.5
this was a darker book than i initially expected it to be but good nonetheless. the characters grow (some for the worse) and a few twists/surprises leave you wondering what the hell could happen next.
Graphic: Transphobia and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
emmajh91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Hate crime, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Dysphoria, Confinement, Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, War, and Toxic friendship
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Drug use, War, and Sexual assault
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
(I am also very tired of books that go "covid happened but we used magic to make it go away" ugh! And blaming the anti-vax movement on warlocks is so distasteful.)
Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Grief, and Misogyny
Moderate: Car accident, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Bullying, Cursing, Medical content, Classism, Lesbophobia, Racism, Confinement, Dysphoria, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, War, Ableism, Abortion, and Emotional abuse
TW: transphobic, misogynistic, and ableist slurs. Internalized misogyny. Mention of drowning.amyvl93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
In terms of what did work well, whenever we side-barred away from the main plot to information about the world and the witch lore was really well crafted. I could have read a whole novel about the witches history - and to be honest, would have actually quite liked to read the novel about the events prior to this one. I also really liked Niamh as a protagonist, she felt the most rounded of the women whose heads we spend time in and again, a novel just following her using her healing powers to be a vet would have been a wholesome good time.
However, lots about this just didn't work for me. I found the prose to often feel quite juvenile, with the women feeling a lot younger than they actually were. There's so much slang and pop culture references in here, which felt very cringe and already aged the book despite it being a recent release. The teenage characters also didn't feel believable - a lot of their dialogue didn't feel at all recognisable as how teens actually speak to each other.
Many of the characters felt very shallowly defined by their identities with little space for nuance - Helena's villain arc ultimately felt quite a stretch, and Leonie seemed defined by her blackness and her queerness which feels at odds of the message of the book to see people as more than their identities. I agree with the messages that Dawson wants to get across here, but they felt quite heavy handed. This is a shame as there's such a need to challenge transphobic rhetoric, but I'm not sure if someone stumbling across this novel who may have other views would have their minds changed.
The ending also made me so mad it killed any vague notion I may have had of finishing the series...a miss for me; but many love it so may be one to check out if you want a pacey fantasy read.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Grief
shannenscribbles'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Child abuse, Bullying, Animal death, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Torture, and Abandonment
queencatroyal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident, Grief, and Outing
atamano'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
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Homophobia, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, War, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Cursing