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nectar_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy and Alcoholism
Moderate: Xenophobia and Infertility
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
kappafrog'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
4.25
There is a wide variety of characters here of different shades of moral greyness. At first I really didn't like Sabran, but she grew on me over time; and as the book went on, I felt more mixed about Ead. Tané grew on me some as the story went on too. All of the characters in the book, including the many queer and female characters, were complex and multi-layered. Loth, Margret and Chassar were the most consistently likable, while Roos was the hardest to like but still sympathetic at times. Even the disgusting Kalyba was not a one-dimensional villain. The Priory was not what I expected, and I loved the evocation of different landscapes and cultures with clear inspirations from our world. The book's length felt merited since there were a lot of different political, magical, and character aspects to explore. I felt like my investment in the story and its characters really paid off. Shannon is not afraid to kill her characters, so there were real stakes at every point in the book. The finale was epic and also gave us enough time to spend with each character in the aftermath of the climax.
All in all, this was a great re-introduction to epic fantasy for me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy.
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Violence, War, Death, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Infertility, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Murder
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Incest, Medical content, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, and Animal death
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child death
mice_are_nice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Torture, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, Infidelity, and Vomit
tousledtreasure'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? Yes
4.5
But on the positive, I really enjoyed the Authors worldbuilding and will read her other books in this series. I'm very impressed with her ability to control such a large cast and portray the characters without watering them down.
Overall this story is great but not perfect.
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and War
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Incest, Grief, Alcoholism, and Classism
lmfry'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
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Infertility, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Death, Dementia, War, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, and Animal death
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
kelisabeth'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Deportation, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
katiezet'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
justgothenough'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: Pregnancy
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Miscarriage, Grief, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Deportation, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Fire/Fire injury
mscalls'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: Medical content, Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Gore, Vomit, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Child death, Torture, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, and War
allymiranda'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism
The only animal cruelty is dragons and (very minor) horses.