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thebookwormkatie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Self harm
kayladaila's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Self harm
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Death of parent
micheala's review against another edition
3.25
This is set in an alternative, magical USA in modern time. I would say that this is urban fantasy (but not Urban Fantasy - the romance is definitely a small side plot point rather than being about 50% of the plot). I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, I felt like things were overly discribed (not always but on a reoccurring basis).
This is the author's first adult novel. I've previously read the Spiderwick Chronicles (many years ago) and DNF'd The Coldest Girl in Cold Town, so I'm not sure if the writing style is the same as their YA novels.
Everything indicates that this is a standalone, however if it remains so, it has a very unsatisfactory ending. I'm not sure if I liked this book enough to want to read a sequel, so I probably won't be keeping an eye out to see if it does continue.
Overall, this book was fine, but very middle of the road for me.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Classism, Murder, and Self harm
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Vomit
zzaakkiiyyaa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual content, and Gun violence
lolamosk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, and Self harm
thoughtsontomes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Torture, Self harm, and Blood
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Incest and Sexual assault
bookedandbusy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Vomit, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm and Physical abuse
sauvageloup's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
pros:
- the magic!!! i haven't read a book (that i remember) with shadow magic in it and i loved the whole thing. the alterationists, quickened shadows, the way the magic became known to the general public through the internet, etc. all of it :D
- Charlie. She's such a mess but she never really means badly by it and I loved how there's the reveal at the end how's she's been holding herself back because she's been afraid of what happens when she really tries. Her nickname of the Charlatan, her past with Rand, her really grey morality but still being loyal and good at heart, as well as her proud sexuality and her relationship with Vince - she doesn't realise how much she likes him and they've kept so many secrets, and yet they're both totally dedicated to the other and i loved that :)
- all the other characters!! Vince was amazing
- Salt was such a good villain too, and Charlie's horror story past of meeting him first was so well done and creepy, because she was so young and relatively defenseless then, but still managed to keep her wits. she's such a survivor :)
- i definitely felt the similarity between BoN and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. There's no dark academia, but the main characters are both 'not on their first mistake, but maybe their last' (as Black put it), a bit older, survivors and smart but jaded and making bad mistakes. there were strong resonances in the magic too, even though it's entirely different, there's the same wild danger of it and not quite knowing how it actually works or how the magic arises/the shadow is quickened. And there was a similar complex, mystery-based plot where both had too many names and was a bit confusing. but i loved both books all the same, and that type of tired-but-fierce female MC who is holding onto life with her teeth is the best :))
cons:
- there's a lot of names. i definitely got lost. Malik and Mahir i muddled up, i forgot who Paul Ecco and Adam and a bunch of the others, as well as small clues like the magnet Charlie found. i did rush through a bit, but it was still pretty complicated
- i did also find that Charlie's chaos kind of spilled into the plot? so i got lost a bit about how much time this was all taking, and the clues/plots/twists and turns felt very haphazard, according to just when the thought showed up in Charlie's mind. it definitely felt organic, but maybe a bit too much so
But overall, adored it and can't wait for book 2 :D
Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Body horror, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Incest, and Forced institutionalization
the self harm is only explicitly for finger pricks for blood, but there's a lot of bad, self-sabotaging decisionskimberly94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Self harm
ode_to_readers's review against another edition
4.5
Okay so the book was a little slow to begin with, the build up and understanding of how shadows worked and the lingo being a struggle. The chapters flick between past and present, Charlie and others. It's both a good thing and a bad thing because the in-between chapters give some more depth but they happen just as there's a cliffhanger on the previous chapter so half the time I'm tempted to skip forward.
At first I didn't really care for Charlie all that much. I like her now but there's still something I can't quite place my finger on why she bothers me. However, Vince became my favourite about half way through and I loved their relationship with each other.
Towards the end of the book, the amount of times you think something is about to happen the way you want it to and Holly just snatches that hope right out of your hands. And then does it again and again.
AND THAT ENDING?!?!?!
Graphic: Gore and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Drug use, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content and Cancer