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blewballoon's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
My boyfriend read this book to me at night to help me fall asleep, and it's great for that. If you need an example of a fantasy book with excessively convoluted names, this is the book for you. If want a painfully slow and dry story with a vague sense of political intrigue but nothing too intriguing, this book is an excellent choice. How much you enjoy this book will depend on how much you enjoy the main character. I personally thought he was.. fine? Not a bad person, but not an exceptional one either in the grand scheme of things. I was much more interested in his close staff, such as his personal assistant who arguably did the most, his rotating bodyguards, and even his royal dressers who picked out his clothes. (Notice how I'm avoiding using anyone's name because I have absolutely no hope of trying to spell them.) I think this book would have been vastly improved by having more perspectives, like the staff members I mentioned, and a female character perspective would have been great as well. The emperor arguably does the bare minimum in terms of treating women decently, at least from a modern viewpoint. I am glad this is a book where "Good" people have good things happen to them and "bad" people don't get away with doing a lot of bad stuff for very long. If this were a more pessimistic book, I think the snail's pace and difficult to grasp world-building would have been even harder to wade through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Racism
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
The names of the elves and goblins were very complicated to learn, and there was a lot of characters, people to know, political entities, religious figures etc.
While it is written very well line by line, I think it was a bit too dry for my tastes. I don’t think I could make it through more of the book, because I’d be lost.
While it is written very well line by line, I think it was a bit too dry for my tastes. I don’t think I could make it through more of the book, because I’d be lost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Homophobia
flyingryndeer's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Confinement
cdonegan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia and Rape
freesiaelect's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I struggled a lot remembering who was who, as many characters had several names/titles they might be called. But the story pulled me in and kept me turning pages.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
orvillefartenbacher's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
On paper, there are a lot of reasons I shouldn’t have liked this book. I am no stranger to lore dumps and enjoy being thrust into the middle of a story and figuring it out as we go. But- the pace at which complicated names and places were thrust at the reader is dizzying. I almost thought I’d DNF this book for that alone.
Our MC (the most lovable MC I’ve ever encountered) is thrust into a world where he is completely lost and out of his depth. As I decided to let some of the titles and names wash over me, I felt the same. Perhaps this was a choice by the author, or maybe I just struggled, but it was immersive.
Very little happens in this book. It is not a nonstop action piece, rather a series of interactions and a lot of body language. Overall I am pleased to have stuck it out. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue the series since by TBR pile is bananas, but I’ll keep it on my list for sure.
Our MC (the most lovable MC I’ve ever encountered) is thrust into a world where he is completely lost and out of his depth. As I decided to let some of the titles and names wash over me, I felt the same. Perhaps this was a choice by the author, or maybe I just struggled, but it was immersive.
Very little happens in this book. It is not a nonstop action piece, rather a series of interactions and a lot of body language. Overall I am pleased to have stuck it out. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue the series since by TBR pile is bananas, but I’ll keep it on my list for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Racism, Child abuse, and Xenophobia
remescient's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Loved this book. It's a great combo of a very sympathetic, lovable character with political intrigue, without needing to info dump all at once to make you understand that the situation is tense. The only thing I really didn't like was the in-world language. It kept taking me out of the plot to have to refer to the glossary at the back of the book, and doesn't contribute much to the world building imo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Includes fantasy racism (elves look down on the goblins).h4ppycupcake's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
I found the protagonist very endearing and was so pumped every time he figured out how to solve a problem. Maia deserves all the cookies in the world. Highly recommend if you can stand complicated character names and honorifics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Grief, Racism, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide
ladythana's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Child abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Dementia, Sexism, Car accident, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Misogyny
Minor: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Racism
izzywoo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism, Grief, Violence, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders