Scan barcode
chocolatechump's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: War and Violence
sofiadanielle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Okay! With that out of the way! As other reviews have said, I don’t know that this story was the most original plot line ever (though maybe it’s just me having read a lot of Fantasy novels recently.) This book doesn’t reimagine a storyline you’ve never heard before. However, I think Pearson writes in such a way that it’s so easy to continue to read, which was an incredible feeling for me personally. You could easily sit through 50 pages of this book, feeling like only 5 minutes passed. I think this point about her writing really drove my rating being closer to a 4 star than anything.
The romance was a bit rushed, and the pacing is hard for me to get a grip on, but the story is honestly fine. I still enjoyed it enough, and do look forward to reading the second book. I will say, though, I don’t feel so driven to read the Remnat Trilogy before this series, though. Will see if that changes at all after the second book.
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Trafficking
Minor: War
t0rixoxo's review against another edition
Graphic: Trafficking
Moderate: Violence
ayahelsheikh'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
3.75
Graphic: Blood and Violence
recreated'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? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Violence and Physical abuse
Minor: Kidnapping and Classism
pgmoon's review against another edition
Minor: Violence
serena_hien'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
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: Sexual violence
abibea'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
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Slavery and Injury/Injury detail
readsswithines's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Death, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Blood
thebookwhale's review against another edition
4.75
Kazi is one of the best FMC I've ever read. She reminded me of Katniss sometimes and I fell in love with her. I feel like I know her because her flaws, her thoughts, and her emotions are so well written. We get to know things about her past, her family and also her relationship with her fellow soldiers / friends (I love Synové and Wren btw) who she deeply cares for.
Jase is another great guy, I love him. I love the connection he has with his family, and how they come before anyone else. I love his thoughts about Kazi, how they are not that different from each other than what they think.
The romance, it is definitely a slow-burn, even though we get kisses pretty early. But the ways they showed their affection and their love and how they went through ups and downs together, I have to say that it did feel genuine, it didn't feel out of character for them to act the way they did with each other.
One thing I have to criticize is that the ending felt a little rushed.
Also a few plot holes were left open, like
How did Jase find out that Kazi replaced the sleep medicine with salt?
Why would Synové kill the prisoner she hates if she said she wouldn't and she knew it was the Queen's order not to do so?
I know these are kinda irrelevant but I still want to know
Also, leaving a book on a cliffhanger like this? A disgusting and genius thing to do. Just stop before chapter 62 if you don't want to read the next book or don't have it yet or if you don't want to be left on a cliffhanger. Because now I have to wait weeks until my bookstore has it again.
Loved it, 5/5
EDITED:
Okay so I reread this because I wanted to read Vow of Thieves, and I think I have to change a few things.
I am not that big of a fan of the relationship anymore. It annoyed me that there could have been a single conversation to erase all of the problems but that just didn't happen and I don't know why. At the same time, it felt rushed. They barely knew each other and somehow fell in love so hard in a short time of 2 months?
A few characters were really underdeveloped. The queen, and her relationship with Kazi, Gunner, Mason, and Wren and Synové (especially Wren) are only some examples. The author could have made so much more out of it if she decided to develope them a little bit more.
Sometimes, Kazi and Jase felt a little blunt and dull, and I am a little shocked that I didn't notice it before. Sometimes, they, and especially Kazi, just annoy me.
However, this book still has a place in my heart, even if I see some of its flaws now. 4.75/5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Genocide and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, and Infertility