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mireillecum'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gun violence
alyssamakesart'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: Violence, Police brutality, Vomit, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing and Racism
Minor: Ableism
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
I don't want to force myself to finish another book I am not enjoying and my tentative rating before quitting the book was somewhere in the 2 star region.
Minor: Death of parent, Gore, Sexual harassment, Torture, Gun violence, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Child death, and Toxic friendship
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's about legacies of trauma and the nature of monstrosity, as Maggie grapples with her understanding of herself. Is she a person who kills monsters? Or a monster who's trying to take other monsters down with her/ Part of this is shown early on when she deliberately withholds her expected part of a culturally important greeting, not wanting to show this part of herself to people she is technically in community with. She feels alienated from them by her deeds. Complicating this is the fact that she's useful to them for the very thing that makes them feel uncomfortable around her, i.e. her talent for death which she uses for monster hunting and retribution.
I love the worldbuilding and setting, blending real climate change fears with Indigenous (specifically Diné) mythology to create a new world from the remains of our own. Some things are directly explained, especially if they relate to her personal history or the particular quirks of this particular dystopian existence, but a lot of specific definitions are left to context clues.
I enjoyed this portrayal of Coyote, Maggie's interactions with him are interestingly tense. I like Kai, he seems like a good counterbalance for Maggie. My few complaints about him have excellent in-story justifications which come together in the end and turn them from annoying to appropriately mysteriously and foreshadow-y.
The big reveal is excellent, I'm very pleased by that part of the ending. This was great and I'm excited for the next one!
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
cerilouisereads'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
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Zombie-like creatureszoe_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed the fighting scenes, though I would have read a lot more of those or longer scenes (unfortunately, Maggie is either op or up against literal gods, which hardly seems fair). In general, Roanhorse knows how to write some good action scenes. She also knows how to put the reader into the mind/position of her protagonist (it might have helped that I'm socially almost as inept as Maggie). Both of these factors are very potent elements in supporting my emersion into the story. I pretty much read this book in two bursts and completely lost myself in it during each.
The elements of character building and progression were also pretty nicely done. Sadly, I was least interested in Maggie's romantic endeavors which meant that the main relationship-aspects rushed past me, but I did enjoy the moments with the other characters all the better.
The one factor that has lowered my rating the most significantly was, sadly, that I saw the ending coming from a couple of miles away. I don't think everyone will have the same experience as I did, in this regard, but if you're decently well-versed in certain tropes it's rather predicable what will happen at the end. Luckily, I got over it pretty quickly (there's still a lot to learn and to do in the second book) so I'm really looking forward to continuing the story.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality
Moderate: Cannibalism, Vomit, and Toxic relationship