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cdoubet'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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Abandonment
imcourtneymarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Original review:
Honestly i was bored for a good chunk. Not bored-bored but I kept having to encourage myself knowing that SJM likes to make her books bottom heavy. The last 200 pages or so were worth it, but man is it a slog. I feel like we could have shaved off 200-250 pages and still told the same story and built the same world.
Speaking of world building, it’s a neat contrast from the usual “medieval-like” fantasy worlds a lot of fantasy takes place in. The modern aspects matched with interesting, unique character traits do buoy this book and potentially the series.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
jkupps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Alcohol
dlsmk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
hannahmiddleton'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
karapillar'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
booksalacarte'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
jen1804'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So I’ve given this book a 3.75. It’s a good book, especially the last 30%, I LOVED the last 30%. It drops marks because I think it’s quite slow paced and thus I found the book a bit unnecessarily long? I prefer faster paced stories with more happening a lot more quickly (but not too quickly haha, need to get that balance right). Also this world building set up is COMPLICATED, and I needed assistance from my friend and the details of a Crescent City guide she’d found to help me get my head around it. But once you, it is easy enough to understand.
This book is well written and I absolutely adore the urban modern fantasy sci fi type world building, which is something new from SJM.
Ultimately this book explores friendship and grief and classism and is at times incredibly emotional, the kind of emotional with big fat tears. The book deals with important themes and is occasionally pretty grim with me audibly gasping or saying ‘urgh’.
I enjoyed the characters, I loved the quick witted Bryce, I loved her complex relationship with Ruhn. I loved Dec and Flynn. I loved the slow burn enemies to lovers with Bryce and Hunt and adored their bickering, but if I’m honest I’m not knee deep yet with this ‘ship romantically.
The massacre of Danika and the pack of devils had me in denial for a while and my heart was not okay.
I’m really looking forward to seeing where we go with this series and excited for the second book. I’m hoping we get to see Bryce, Hunt, Ruhn and friends, take down the bullshit hierarchy of the Asteri and Archangels. I love an all powerful teamwork moment. I’m also hoping we get more development of Bryce and Hunt because I need a bit more before I’m fully behind it.
Satisfactory ending? For sure.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Addiction and Vomit
queerreaderchaos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Ok, now that the hows are out of the way, I have a very very important question:
Why was this good?
I'm not a fan of spicy books, and I knew that SJM books have a certain level of spice in them. But the scenes didn't bothered me that much. I just never thought I could enjoy one of her books.
Special mention to Lehaba (if you know you know).
Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and War
mrssmithreadsrom's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, and Murder