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bookrecsplease'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: Blood, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual violence and Adult/minor relationship
dkgreads'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: Slavery, War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Torture
dwinn5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I love the way that the author portrays war in this series. It’s horrible, gritty, traumatic, and tragic and craps all over the idea that there is some kind of glory in war. That whole message comes mostly from Max’s personal development, I think, which leads me to my next point, which is that Max is one of my favorite fantasy men ever, and maybe even one of my favorite characters ever.
My Max rant:
I think too often, male fantasy characters-especially if they are warriors/soldiers, like Max- are thrust into the same stoic, serious archetype that prevents them from feeling like a full person. And even when they experience emotion, it feels stilted and shallow. It was refreshing to see a male character who experienced the full breadth of emotions, who had tried so hard to be “tough” and militant the way he knew he was supposed to be, but ultimately failed because he had always had a soft heart. But at the same time, it didn’t make him any less of a powerful character or undercut his powers- only his motivations/willingness to do things. On the flip side, a lot of the male fantasy characters with the sort of unshakable morals that Max possesses come off as condescending or holier-than-thou, and even when Max did wield some sort of moral superiority, he did it with enough humor and willingness to admit when he’s wrong that it never came across that way to me.
He’s a flawed, feeling, human character that I just loved. Also he was hilarious- definitely the funniest lead fantasy man I’ve ever read.
A couple miscellaneous things I really enjoyed about the series:
-I LOVE when the “villains” don’t really seem to fit the title. This has some true moral greyness to it, and even when I vehemently disagreed with character’s methods, I always understood exactly why they did it.
-Carissa does a great job of setting up the stakes of the story in a way that is believable and increases the intensity of the story to keep you invested. The stakes never felt manufactured or overblown to me- which I think had a lot to do with her willingness to absolutely decimate her characters, lol.
Anyway, long story short- I think a lot more people should be reading this series.
Graphic: War, Death, Grief, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
aklovekorn's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Body horror, Classism, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, War, Death, Dysphoria, and Fire/Fire injury
bellebookcorner'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
“I have made bad decisions before. But you are not, and never have been, and never will be one of them. It is always you.”
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Torture, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, Death, and Sexual content
charhollyx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A really fitting end for Max and Tis, I love their passion for one another and always coming to each others rescue.
I wish Nura had a more fitting death than the one she had.
And Aefe and Acadian’s tragic tale was a little disappointing. I loved the mystery of their story in the second book, but their romance felt forced and more like co-dependence than anything passionate.
Graphic: War, Torture, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Confinement