Scan barcode
mary_stormageddon'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, War, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, and Violence
Minor: Incest
sehenry20's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Child death, Violence, and Pregnancy
maur_damar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Miscarriage
Minor: Cursing
abookorten'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
5.0
Moderate: Torture, Miscarriage, Violence, and Death
Minor: Death of parent
bucketsjen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
It was thankfully clear of the casual misogyny, sexism, and sexual assault that tends to plague a lot of high fantasy these days (looking at you, ASOIAF/GOT).
Queer people exist and them being queer is not part of the scandal or drama. Men and women both exist as guards and combatants and it's not a big deal - you'll just be reading and there is a guard at the door and the novel uses she/her pronouns. There is a religion that is virtue/purity-focused and a clear riff off Christianity. There is not racism based on appearance (in fact, people with different skin colors are described in the country that has the aforementioned religion) - although there IS nationalism.
There is romance and some light spice in the book, but it's not the focus or the driver of events.
Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, and Violence
Minor: Incest
one instance ofdylly_russell's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Blood, War, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia
fluffy_comet's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Death of parent, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and War
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
lonelylooper'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: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Cursing, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Infertility, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Dementia, Classism, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Incest, Death of parent, and Infidelity