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hedonsgaybookshelf's review
- 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
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Dementia, Chronic illness, and Sexual content
banannafox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Body horror, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Bullying, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Animal death, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Vomit, and Miscarriage
alphabetmafiamember'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, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: War, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Vomit, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Grief, Confinement, Classism, Drug use, Dementia, Cursing, and Child death
Minor: Sexual assault and Slavery
wilybooklover's review against another edition
4.5
I am in DIRE need of the sequel though after that ending!! Also I wish we had the US cover in the UK, it's so much prettier.
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Classism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death
discarded_dust_jacket'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? No
4.25
But I think audiobook format was the right choice for me in this case, because this is a long book, and I tend to struggle with pushing through stories that heavily involve things like political intrigue and military movement. But listening to it made it easier to space out a little bit during the parts I’d typically find boring, yet not have it stall my overall progress.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Violence, Dementia, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death and Vomit
fifteenthjessica's review
- 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
Rin Chupeco definitely knows how to craft an intriguing fantasy novel with complex characters that mix in the most interesting ways, but I'm still not sold on her skill at describing what is going on. Like the huas in The Bone Witch, the Breaker, Remy's main weapon, is hard for me to picture. It's called a scythe often, so I assume it has a more polearm like handle, but the way he's described as moving with it makes it hard for me to picture him doing it with a long handle. A picture on a variant cover suggests it is in fact a short handle and heavily inspired by real world weapons like Kusarigama, but it's never outright stated, probably because pre-modern Japanese weaponry is an obscure area of knowledge for most Western readers. Also, like when I read the Bone Witch, I found myself sitting there wondering "Wait, how'd that happen?" as a main character is described as having a serious injury.
Fair warning to anyone looking into book who are younger fans of Chupeco's YA novels, things get steamy. Most is completely consensual, but an important subplot is about Remy's affair with an older woman (possibly multiple) that is less due to any attraction Remy's feels for her and more because it's the only way to get information about vampire movement in Aluria that everyone admits should be given to him because he's a vampire hunter, but the woman's husband is a giant asshole. Nothing graphic, but characters definitely bang, and I know I would not have enjoyed that type of content when I was in my young teens.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Infidelity, War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Kidnapping, Classism, Vomit, and Medical content
cheye13's review
- 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
5.0
It's everything I loved from The Bone Witch trilogy, but stepped up just a little for an adult audience and it sure hits the spot. Can't wait to see what Chupeco does with this series.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Murder, Grief, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cursing, Dementia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Infidelity
Also moderate warnings for mind control and loss of autonomy, and general warning for content that typically comes with both zombies (flesh) and vampires (blood). The most graphic child death occurs in the first chapter, and the parental grief is contained to early chapters. The emotional abuse is parental and more of a background element.pvbobrien's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Bullying, Medical content, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Child abuse
Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy, Child death, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Animal death
nerodyne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Medical content, and Dementia
vigil's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
i have my fair share of issues about this book, but everytime i wasn't reading it, i was thinking about reading it. i never had a bad moment with this book, despite many warning that it starts to hit it's stride 20% into it. i was invested from page one essentially.
for my critiques, i'll say there is the issue with repetitive word choice, (there's only so many times i can read the word attractive) prose that definitely has it roots in YA despite being an adult book, and too much telling rather than showing in the romance. i think was written for zidan and remy, along with what has been set up for them is great, both individually and character wise. the same unfortunately cannot quite be said for xiaodan, who i feel got the short end of the stick. i know that she likes remy, and her fiance, i know several objective facts about her, but very little beyond that. that lack of interiority unfortunately spread to the relationship somewhat, leaving me fine with her interactions with her love interests, but never truly satisfied in the same way remy and malekh's do. however, this is the first book in what i presume to be a series, and that i expect that there will be more on xiaodan, especially with the events of the ending, a part of the book that really stood out for me.
that's not to say i didn't enjoy the relationship, because i absolutely did. they were always engaging to have on page, and i don't have any specific complaints about them (aside from the issue with xiaodan above). more fantasy authors should include sex scenes in their books.
plotwise, i had a fun time. i think this book would work excellent in a graphic novel or animation format because of how high-action it was. the rot plotline was a good opener for the series,
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Gore