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rensreading'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
the plot? exquisite! the characters? phenomenal! the progression of relationships? flawless! all the twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat!
i think my favorite character would have to be tané. we didn’t get as much of her story as we did the others, true. but she spoke to my soul. a hidden past, seemingly abandoned by her birth parents and taken in by the temple (i’m like 80% sure it was a temple anyway) to learn and train to one day become a rider, having a dragon choose her and call her kin, claiming she has the heart of a dragon all while battling an insurmountable amount of guilt for lives she’s put in danger due to her own ambition. ughhhh i just loved her. i can’t explain it right. just know she’s marvelous and i wish only happy things for her from here on out.
i also love that all the queerness was so casual. the only issue anybody had with queer couples were due to blood heirs and classism. that’s it. so refreshing for two people of the same gender to be together and no one has an issue with it for the mere sake of it. especially in fantasy! you would assume since its all made-up, homophobia wouldn’t be a thing many fantasy stories subscribe to but you would be wrong. i also love that ace and aro also had rep in this. lost of people call this a sapphic fantasy, but that feels like a discredit to all the other queer identities represented in this book.
this is a tome, plain and simple. don’t let its size intimidate you though! once the story has you, its not gonna let go until you’ve read all 800+ pages it has for you. you’ll love it. but if you have trouble reading longer books, divide the book up by parts! it helped me immensely!
and when people say the story really starts to pick up at page 250, they truly were not lying.
5 stars (:
[edited 6/29]
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Confinement, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Cursing, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Pregnancy, Gun violence, Infertility, and Incest
Minor: Colonisation, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
concerning the incest: a character raises a child as her own then ends up falling in love with the child once they are grown. they are, fortunately, not blood related.angstifies'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
this book was amazing from page one to the very last one, it can seem intimidating because of the number of pages but it’s really not. the pacing is great, the world, religions, dragons and magic in here are all very intriguing and unique, and all the stories in the 4 POVs are soo good, i was never even slightly bored.
i really didn’t expect to love all these characters as much as i did but wow. every one of them was so well crafted, even the side characters always felt real and distinct and i absolutely adored that. my favorite has to be Niclays, i always like a good morally flawed character and his arc was fantastic.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Body horror, War, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Alcohol
ate_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
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Death, Infertility, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
ging090803'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? No
5.0
It might seem complicated to understand (and it is), but the story is worth to read. The characters are amazing. The past is well written which explained everything during the present.
Anyway, 5 freaking stars.
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Miscarriage, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Infertility, Murder, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Religious bigotry
quinn24'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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Miscarriage, Classism, Murder, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Dementia
thecasualbooknerd'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: War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Alcoholism
claudiamacpherson'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
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Vomit
kfox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
beforeviolets'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
I wish I could put into words just how much I loved this book, but I don't think I'll be able to. I have been craving so much sapphic adult high fantasy this year and, as most people are, was nervous to crack into this beast of a book. But the only disappointing thing about this book was that it had to end.
The prose constantly rendered me speechless, the world-building was just an absolute marvel to experience, the characters were so multi-faceted and compelling and perfectly rounded out the story.
This is the blueprint.
Graphic: Miscarriage, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical content, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual content and Infidelity
li_reading'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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Blood, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Torture, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Addiction, Dementia, and Abandonment
Minor: Incest, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Cursing, and Confinement