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haskinsc's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide
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
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
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Blood, Classism, Murder, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, War, and Infertility
freckledlife's review against another edition
challenging
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
I really enjoyed this story and have been thinking about it for several days after finishing the book. It did take me almost a month to read because the language was challenging and the pacing was slow. I don't think I would have survived without Kindle's X-Ray feature because there were so many similar-sounding names, and characters were also referred to by more than one name, so I kept losing track of who was who!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage
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
tuna_mel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
daffodilcherry's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A fun, fantasy about political/court intrigue and kindness conquering all. I was very tempted to dump the book by about 200 pages in and I'm happy that I persevered. I think there are slightly too many char cters/words that impeded my enjoyment of the world. My version of the book did not come with a map, which I've since found online that I think would help my understanding a lot. I also wish the glossary was split into terms and people, as it was frustrating to constantly flick back only to be unable to find the meaning of the new word I came across.
The ending was very sweet and actually quite fun. I didn't find Maia enjoyable from the beginning, but after reading reviews about how this was a story about kindness I was able to shift my mindset and grew fond of him.
Wheelhouses: political/court intrigue, steampunk setting, kindness exalted, strong sense of worldbuilding.
Doghouses: too many damn names! Fantasy racism, fantasy sexism, unchallenged divine right off kings, very few women in the main cast, very little plot.
The ending was very sweet and actually quite fun. I didn't find Maia enjoyable from the beginning, but after reading reviews about how this was a story about kindness I was able to shift my mindset and grew fond of him.
Wheelhouses: political/court intrigue, steampunk setting, kindness exalted, strong sense of worldbuilding.
Doghouses: too many damn names! Fantasy racism, fantasy sexism, unchallenged divine right off kings, very few women in the main cast, very little plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
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
thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide