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zoec24's review
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? Yes
4.0
I like the plot. However, I'm a bit concerned about the fact that they hadn't even seen a portrait of Mary before. Also, the romance. I know the idea is that taking down an entire country is going too far. However, the only alternative I can think of is 'still raid the castle but take the royal family somewhere to negotiate ending the genocide/something Olso wants'. The romance didn't have to be thrown in to emphasise this. And Cas was just a stereotypical nice person who thinks through everything. And really, Wenda Flores was horrible-I get it. But the genocide of the Ruined is completely disproportional and Em needs to put her people above the stereotypical love interest who happens to be the son of the guy who did this. And really, the books try to make the argument that they are ending a generation-long war where no one is innocent...except for the fact that the Ruined enslaved everyone generations(I'm getting the sense centuries) ago and there is a genocide being committed against the Ruined RIGHT NOW. But yeah, Em's 'invade the country that's doing this' response was not well thought through, because she could have just negotiated? Because ONE PERSON being a master torturer getting responded to with killing of the Ruined shows that both sides are equally at fault. It doesn't. And Em trying to kill specifically the guys who are leading the country murdering all the Ruined is what you would expect. I mean, Olso won't be amazing to the Lerans while they're occupied, but they're probably going to be around average rulers. This just irritated me so much because that was the direction potentially good commentary went in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Genocide, Grief, Death, Torture, and War
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