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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
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
tinysierra's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
-Enemies to Lovers (knife to throat!!)
-Forced Proximity
-Reluctant Allies
-Fake Dating (kinda?)
Based on the TikTok hype and the sypnosis, I assumed that this would be a high stakes, fast paced adventure similar to Six of Crows and Guilded Wolves. While there was a bit of an adventure in the first few chapters, the book overall was slow paced, focused on characters, family, romance and politics. It was more akin to Graceling.
The title was fitting. It felt like a dance or a game being played between the main characters. We get both Kazi and Jase’s POVs, which was a nice setup for the story.
I have a soft spot for thieves with angsty backstories so I loved Kazi. I liked the way that she came up with riddles.
The romance was well done. It felt like it developed a bit fast but it made sense considering the forced proximity, and they continue to develop their feelings over the rest of the book.
The fatal flaw of the book for me was the amount of telling instead of showing.
It ends on a cliffhanger but I personally will be ignoring the last chapter and will not be reading the next book.
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Death, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Classism, Trafficking, and Torture
Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, and Miscarriage
veni_vidi_legi'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? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Gore, Slavery, Grief, Child abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Blood
hales_1243'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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Trafficking
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
victoria_elaine'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? N/A
4.25
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: War and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment and Trafficking
mrsalexisrjones'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
4.75
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Miscarriage, Trafficking, War, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Death
jana_f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Trafficking, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Torture
livelaughomo'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
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Trafficking and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage and Torture