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hannahs_library_'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
4.5
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Death and Rape
melliedm'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
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Child abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, and Gun violence
julesadventurezone'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
Also I the entire time I was reading kept thinking about how this and the Locked Tomb Series has a lot of similarities but that was a lot more compelling to me than this.
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Self harm
whydah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Violence
salemander's review
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, War, Death, and Torture
angiepoggi's review
- 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
3.5
However, I didn't like the pace. It was slow (which I don't have a problem with) but boring. It took a long time for things to happen and there's a lot of time spent just talking, for example, until halfway through the book, about 245 pages, we were still building the narrative. Not to mention that, when some type of action could've happen, being running around or the characters discovering a secret on their own, a character immediately tells them everything and resolves the possible conflict quickly. Also, after halfway through the book, the pacing becomes very inconsistent, with the ending, the very end, very rushed, but that part didn't bother me as much.
Now, I didn't like one of the main characters, Touraine. She makes some decisions that made me so ANGRY AAA and they didn't make any sense, I mean, in theory they could've made for her, but the author didn't build much of a foundation for it. For example, in relation to the development of this character, I know the points the author wanted to reach in Touraine's journey, but there were none to few scenes to justify the key changes in her head.
Even with all these reservations, I'm still curious to read the second one. I heard that it's a different vibe and that the pacing is better balanced.
Anyway, I recommend this book if you want to read a fantasy that talks about colonialism with a lot of queers. There are a lot of people who love it, including a friend who wanted me to read it, so I think it's worth giving it a chance.
Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Murder, Body horror, Blood, Kidnapping, Gore, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Mental illness, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy
anazap'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
3.75
I found the first half at least to be pretty slow, though it did set things up well for the action later on. The last 1/3 or so was excellent, and I couldn’t put it down.
Graphic: Violence, War, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Sexual assault
persephonefoxx'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
3.75
She was as free now as she ever would be. She could choose what she fought for. She could choose who she was willing to die for
This book has me conflicted - while it tells a story that is both confronting and important, there are elements that fell flat for me.
This does an amazing job depicting the horrors of war and revolution, and the desperation of people fighting for their lands, their right to be treated as people, their freedom. It is confronting. It is raw. It is very real in its depiction.
My struggle in this book stems more from the characters. I love a flawed character, it is what makes them real. However, the plot of this book ruminated on the constant backsliding and poor decisions made my Touraine and Luca. And while I believe Touraine completed a character arch, growing and changing (albeit it with constant side switching). Luca almost started and finished in the same place, just with a plethora of poor choices in the middle.
Lastly, there are intricacies when depicting a coloniser/colonised relationship that I do not believe were hit. I am interested to see how the relationship and romance is handled and develops over the rest of the series.
TL:DR - What this book has to say is very important. And Clark doesn’t sugar coat the horrors of colonisation and war. However, some marks outside of action and conflicts were missed. I am tentatively going to pick up the next book, and am curious to see if these marks are hit in the sequel.
Graphic: Racism, Vomit, Violence, Colonisation, Blood, War, Death, Gore, and Confinement
Moderate: Torture, Classism, Sexual harassment, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape and Gun violence
eithne26's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Violence
lady_valhella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Genocide, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization