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boxes_of_foxes'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
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Torture
doahdancer'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
The ending was very satisfying and is led by the fulfillment of just fates for each character.
My one disappointment was the romance. If you like to stay out of the weeds in book relationships, this is perfect, but I would have loved to see more detail on why they became meaningful to each other. The end sort of implies they were drawn together by fate, but the human aspect of their emotions for each other were underdeveloped for my taste.
Bardugo has a terrific narrative voice that felt timeless and aptly channeled the gothic/medieval/Spanish feel of the setting. Overall wonderful read.
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It seems like Leigh Bardugo was experimenting with this one. That is of course not bad per se, but I think her (assumed) goals got in the way of her strengths. It seemed like she wrote about history to honor something and introduced a bit of magic in it because she likes it but with wanting to stick to the facts that much, she came in the way of what she does best, which is of course creating her own in depth magic systems, writing about found family and getting you to care for the people, no matter how morally grey they might be. This was sadly not the case here. Her magical system was shallow at best and with no clear rules and random power highs, lows and ways to exercise it arbitrary and illogical at worst. The first half of the book was sadly just boring and you were left waiting for the shoe to drop and something grand to happen, which sadly, did not happen as Leigh tried to stick to the history. The love story was unexpected, surprisingly explicit and weird, if you consider the age difference. I did not like the ending because it just isn't an end in my opinion. The biggest surprise and I guess character growth was Valentina, she really stole the whole book. I'm glad she found her back bone and her desire and her calling I guess. A personal disappointment for me was the lackluster heist time and I didn't like the layered intrigues and court politics as well.
The writing was still nice though. Some of her sentences I feel she wrote because she thought they would be deep and connect with people, but that just didn't work a lot because they felt wrong and forced. There was a lot of anger in this book and literally not one male character was any good, which was super sad. I am a bit disappointed but I also recognize that Leigh was probably experimenting and I feel like her heart wasn't in it, so I am still excited for her next books.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
nathalie_nettlewood'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Sexism
annamay1021's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death of parent
caitlin_123a'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
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Grief
hannahg94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
But I didn't care for it in the end. The pacing is wildly off: sometimes it is agonizingly slow and other times it zooms through at the speed of light. The main characters were painfully flat; much to the disservice to the romance, which I found to be a complete bust. It's extremely underdeveloped, and there is no clear reason why the main characters like each other other than... Magic is sexy. Magic makes me feel alive and you're magical, therefore you are the most important thing in the world to me now! The intimacy between the lovers feels purely lust driven (if even that). When the characters profess love of one another it feels, at best, extremely naive...and at worst, just utterly unbelievable. I have no idea what these two people like about each other. Heck, I don't like much about them. There just isn't much there: good or bad. I don't even have much feeling about how it ended because... I truly don't care about any of these characters.
Overall, its a unique premise that didn't deliver. The things that are good about it get dragged down by the things that are bad about it.
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Torture and Antisemitism
atamano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent
leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
imogenlj's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent