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deezy'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Homophobia and Gaslighting
hadley_w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape
kindra_demi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I get that the characters have 3 books to grow in, but I do wish we saw a bit of growth and change. Yes you see characters who initially weren't going to help because of their beliefs start to help, but their "help" is outweighed with how stubborn/closed off they were still being in other areas. I recognize that Nahri is thrown into a new world and so there is going to be shock and resistance from her, but we barely get a taste of her taking her new life into her own hands (truly and genuinely. Not in a way where she is just trying to figure out the basics of her new life) in the last few chapters.
What had me most excited was that it was a book for those who love politics, and while yes it does have some politics, because of how it was written and the overall progression of the storyline, you just kept getting told the same things over and over again. Most of this book is setting up alliance and rivalries, the background to a couple of those alliances and rivalries, but it's those last 100-150 pages where we see action and the effects of those alliances and rivalries. I will also give that if I wasn't super into political stories, it would get confusing to follow the political world building.
I really hope that the next books are better because I was initially so excited for the trilogy, but this first book isn't meeting what I hoped for it.
Moderate: Death, Gore, Slavery, Blood, and War
Minor: Rape and Alcohol
beccadamb's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
emilyplun'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
3.5
I loved the world/setting, but the book overall left me frustrated. The whole story is full of "mysteries," but half of those are the main character just not knowing the basic workings of the magical world or its society, or an event in magical history that every other character is aware of. There are a lot of "who's behind this event?" mysteries too, but it's hard to get into that when the reader is only given a tiny trickle of info about how anything works. The ending was frustrating-- many mysteries weren't solved (which is fine) but a few that were solved weren't satisfying, and then more questions were introduced. I felt like I was drowning in things I didn't understand. As a reader, I wanted to know at least the basic facts that are relevant to a situation (like how x magic works, what happened during x event that everyone keeps referring to), even if the main character doesn't know.
This is really unfortunate since I love the world-building and the basic plotline. I might have to read the plot somewhere and intentionally spoil myself so I can read the sequels.
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape and War
cameronreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Slavery, and Alcohol
dracorum'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury
booksthatburn'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
5.0
This generally avoids infodumps by making sure that, when exposition is necessary, it comes in the form of telling someone information that’s truly new to them. Sometimes that’s a briefing for an unfamiliar situation, other times it’s a story around the fire. A lot of these explanations happen early on, and it seemed like a bit much at first (there are a lot of tribes, for one), but the main narrative only demands consistent recognition of three or four tribal names so it wasn't overwhelming once the story got going. The two main characters have very different lives and knowledge bases, and that works together to give the reader a fuller picture of the world and the secondary characters.
I love the political wrangling and intrigue. Ali is pretty blunt, surrounded by much more subtle players with complicated aims, and there are a few places where people use insider terms to tell him what’s going on but he doesn’t realize that a double meaning is involved. Later when Mahri becomes immersed in it she's a much savvier player with the information she does have, and I'm looking forward to how she handles things as the the trilogy progresses. I love heists and thieves, so having Mahri the con artist as a protagonist is a treat. She's self confident but wary of the situation, and that blend of prowess and uncertainty is truly delightful. There's something great about taking a person highly skilled in one arena and dropping them into a wholly different one that brings out their known and unknown strengths in intriguing ways. Dara isn't a point of view character, and I think that's because he knows too much to be a good narrator. The story is so much richer for his presence, but he's stingy with information, doling it out only when he thinks Mara needs to know something, which is often well after he's acted on the knowledge. This leaves her to pick up the pieces each time, in turns fond of and exasperated by him as he drifts in and out of the scene.
The ending is rather shocking, managing grief and triumph as Mahri and Ali have to deal with sudden changes in the last chapters. It's not a twist of plot as much of the inevitability of consequence, as things that had been a little bit wrong for a while suddenly get out of control. I'm excited for the next one, I need to know what happens now.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Rape, Excrement, and Antisemitism
CW for major character death (graphic).jackiepreston'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape and Violence
wordrevel'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Trafficking
Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Murder
Minor: Rape and War