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sophiesmallhands's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Transphobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Confinement, Child death, and War
chemifox's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Child death
mandkips's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide, Child death, and Confinement
tahsintries's review
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, and Body horror
readingthroughinfinity's review
- 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
4.0
And, as usual, with this series, it was an exciting, tense, and fast-paced read. In this story we follow Rider (more so than Akeha or Mokoya) as they search for their long-lost twin. Their search uncovers deadly experiments and dark secrets that they and the other Machinists try to put a stop to.
The POV is split mainly between Rider and a new character, Investigator Chuwan, and I found myself wondering if Chuwan would appear again in the fourth (and final) book in the series, as Yang likes to introduce characters and then grow their importance throughout the story (something I enjoy about their writing).
The writing style is as vibrant and lyrical as usual but the tone of this book feels darker (which I suppose is hinted at in the title). The twists at the end were excellent and I'm going to need 3-5 business days to recover from that cliffhanger.
The only downside to book three (and this is definitely a ME issue and not a book issue) is that I didn't feel as connected to the characters in this story as I did in the previous two books. I think this comes from the fast that a lot of the story is spent with Chuwan, who I didn't really know yet, and I didn't get to see much of Akeha and Mokoya, who I've come to love.
On the whole, though, this was another great installment in the series and I need to read the last book ASAP to find out how that cliffhanger is resolved. (I also don't want to finish the series though because that means it's?? over??)
Graphic: Blood, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
bi_blue's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, Transphobia, Murder, and Excrement
Minor: Child death, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Kidnapping