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hailsatan'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
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Deportation, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Infertility, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
moonymars'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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
marie_reads_again'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
4.25
what really put me off, though, was the immaturity of the protagonist. I'm guessing shes around 16 to 17 years old, but I thought since it's maketed towards adults, ths protagonist will be more mature. I found her a little annoying sometimes, but i want to continue reading, because the last pages made me think, that maybe its just a necessary character trait (not immaturity but something more like hot-headedness), which is going to make the story very interesting.
definitely gonna clntinue this series and can recommend it :)
oh but it's very graphic and brutal at times, look out for that!
Graphic: Vomit, Drug use, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War
songbiirds'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Classism, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infertility, War, Sexual assault, and Violence
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first half seemed to have a strong start - peasant girl Rin wants to become a soldier at the Sinegard Academy to escape an arranged marriage. She beats the odds, scoring perfectly and being accepted. However, that’s only the start of her troubles. Being at the school didn’t bring her the same opportunities as the other students because she was still just a peasant girl from the south in the eyes of the other students.
That’s NOT the plot of the book though. That’s only 1 section of 3. If you just started the book and don’t like it, maybe keep reading. It gets really different from here on out.
Book 1 felt VASTLY different from the rest of the book were everything seemed to change, including the writing and descriptions and even the story. While book 1 felt very YA, the rest of the book was decidedly NOT. It was full of dark violent scenes not meant for young adults.
I liked the way Rin faced everything thrown at her during Book 1 and her time at the school, but I felt like Book 2 was full of worldbuilding where Rin was often in the background and no longer the main character. There was just a lot of information thrown at us and it didn’t feel steady enough to drag us through so much so quickly.
I also felt like some of the atrocities were mentioned in great detail as a way to shock the readers. We went from brief mentions of violence and battles, to multiple fully detailed scenes of sexual violence and horror. Nothing else seemed to be described that way in the rest of the book though, and I felt like Kuang wanted us to know that this had happened in real life and wanted to mention it here as well. It just seemed unexpected and jarring.
Overall the story was interesting and I’m definitely going to be continuing the story.
Please check the content warnings. This book gets very detailed and very dark. It talks about colonialism and the horrors of war and everything in between.
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Colonisation, Genocide, Rape, Drug abuse, War, Violence, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Ableism
Minor: Vomit
kento'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
5.0
Graphic: Infertility, Drug use, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Gore, Classism, Genocide, Slavery, Racism, Mental illness, Blood, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Cursing, Body horror, Death, Violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, War, Drug abuse, Vomit, Child death, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
thedambookshelf'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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Addiction, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Self harm, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Drug use, Genocide, and Grief
jeyjeyyy'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
Though I did find the middle part a bit slow, the beginning is very entertaining and has amazing world building and the third part is simply phenomenal. While a plot-focused book as well, the reflections this story had on power, anger and how they impact history were truly fascinating. As always, we love flawed main characters, and they truly were. To the point where I kept switching between hating them or loving them with my whole heart. As I said, amazing.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Rape
the_harlequin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Body horror, Drug abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Addiction, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Colonisation, Classism, Self harm, War, Religious bigotry, Death, Child death, Blood, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Infertility, and Suicide
sam_emerson6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, War, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery