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styxx'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
3.5
Moderate: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
gattolinos_nerdy_nook'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? It's complicated
5.0
I very much enjoyed how the two families interact and the seeing both the similarities and differences between them. It is a great way to build up the drama for the final book.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Drug use, and Kidnapping
Minor: Terminal illness
bluebreex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death
lotte5322's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
delandjessica'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
3.0
At least another third of the book is spent on pointless descriptions and everyday activities and other such things that were terribly boring to read and nearly had me DNF the book multiple times. Also, everyone is always whispering or croaking or talking softly in like every dialogue tag and it got really old. Not to mention all the copious amounts of repetition end overexplaining and reiterating and Kiva standing around as a useless vessel as a writer crutch to convey information to the reader without her actually contributing anything. She really did/accomplishes very little on her own and was constantly being saved by others or having (often obvious) things explained to her. She also basically lost her identity as the gritty but effective healer from the first book, all of which was really frustrating since it made her character weak, indecisive, soooo naive/gullible (I have no idea why she's surprised when the people she expects to betray her do exactly that when she hands them everything they need), and occasionally straight up clueless, the opposite of the strong, independent, and intelligent person she was in book one. I also really missed the parts from book one where she was doing actual healing/medical treatments, and it felt like the author didn't even try to be realistic about injuries. Kiva gets a concussion at one point but then is left alone to sleep through the night unsupervised with a vague warning to wake herself up occasionally (how was she supposed to manage that?) and then is somehow fine enough the next morning to do an intense exercise regime...That would absolutely not be physically possible, and she would know better anyway as a healer. My point is that she just goes from relying on her wit and skills to resolve her problems to always turning to her magic and her self-admitedly nonexistent fighting skills, which was really disappointing. Plus, she has no lingering trauma or other effects from being abandoned in a death prison since she was seven, so during her formative years, which she very much would, and so it felt like the author was dodging those difficult issues by not addressing them.
But the parts that focused on the actual plot with her and her rebel siblings and them trying to take over the kingdom, that was interesting and hooked me back into the story about 2/3 in when I was about to give up on it. But then the ending got really jumbled with at least 12 different twists/big reveals/unearthings of convenient and overly complicated worldbuilding devices happening all at once, all of which were either super obvious from the very beginning of the book or so unpredictable that they came completely out of left field since there had been zero foreshadowing to allow the reader to figure them out themselves. I loved the single big twist revelation at the end of the first book and felt it was well handled, but there was just way too much going on at the end of this book with convoluted laws and politics and relationships to the point that I'm not even completely clear on what happened and why. Also, all of this is explained to Kiva by various people rather than her learning/figuring out any of it herself, which really took a lot of the punch out of it.
All that being said, the story was left in a tense spot that has me interested in reading more, so I'm planning to finish out the series. I'm just really hoping that Kiva does something in the next book other than listen to others talk at/around her and fret about all her various problems without actually doing anything about them.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Terminal illness, and Vomit
There is a scene that builds up to characters having a sexual interaction, but then they don't end up going that far, though there's a lot of aggressive kissing and other such things that happen. Also, mild swearing throughout.zozo_reads'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: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
theespressoedition'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
4.0
I had so many questions at the end of The Prison Healer and a lot of them were answered brilliantly in this sequel. I don't want to write too much about the plot because I know there's still a lot that needs to happen in the next book--and I truly can't wait to dive in! I can absolutely see this becoming a favorite series. I was worried The Gilded Cage would have a strong case of "middle book syndrome" but it didn't suffer from that in the slightest. It was mesmerizing from page one and I was hooked on every line until the very end.
Okay, I need to go gear myself up to jump into The Blood Traitor next!
Graphic: Drug abuse and Blood
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Minor: War
betweentheshelves'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? It's complicated
3.0
Noni is great at writing plot twists (even I could predict most of them. I chalk that up to reading a lot of YA fantasy). The characters are also easy to love, Caldon was probably my favorite addition in this one. I loved him and I hope we get more of him in the final book. Which yes, I will be reading because I need to know how this all comes together. Especially for Tipp's sake. That boy deserves all the good in the world.
All in all, if you're looking for a YA fantasy with a strongly built world and a easy to love cast of central characters, you'll definitely enjoy this series.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Blood
kassidyreads'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Violence
Minor: Terminal illness and Kidnapping
maregred'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail