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iammmartina_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: War, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Abortion
Minor: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
chimichannika's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Excrement and Infidelity
torturedreadersdept'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: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Bullying, Xenophobia, Confinement, Dementia, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death, Torture, Violence, War, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Miscarriage, Animal death, Dysphoria, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
mary_stormageddon'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: Blood, War, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, and Violence
Minor: Incest
kappafrog'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
There is a wide variety of characters here of different shades of moral greyness. At first I really didn't like Sabran, but she grew on me over time; and as the book went on, I felt more mixed about Ead. Tané grew on me some as the story went on too. All of the characters in the book, including the many queer and female characters, were complex and multi-layered. Loth, Margret and Chassar were the most consistently likable, while Roos was the hardest to like but still sympathetic at times. Even the disgusting Kalyba was not a one-dimensional villain. The Priory was not what I expected, and I loved the evocation of different landscapes and cultures with clear inspirations from our world. The book's length felt merited since there were a lot of different political, magical, and character aspects to explore. I felt like my investment in the story and its characters really paid off. Shannon is not afraid to kill her characters, so there were real stakes at every point in the book. The finale was epic and also gave us enough time to spend with each character in the aftermath of the climax.
All in all, this was a great re-introduction to epic fantasy for me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy.
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Violence, War, Death, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Infertility, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Murder
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Incest, Medical content, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, and Animal death
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child death
kelisabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Deportation, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
filipa_maia'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
Despite the heavy world-building, the long list of characters, the very different settings that are described, this book is extremely easy to read. You can easily fall in love with these characters even though you are constantly aware of their flaws.
In the end I was so scared that my favorite characters were going to die that I didn't want to finish the book. That's how much I started to like these fictional people (and non-people too).
I can't wait to read more stories in this world.
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, War, Death, Abandonment, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Classism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Vomit
Minor: Infidelity
emmahe'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
3.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, War, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Grief and Sexual content
Minor: Incest and Infidelity
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Torture, Incest, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Religious bigotry, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Body horror, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Xenophobia
shlymiller'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Miscarriage