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jelliestars'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? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
risaleel'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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Colonisation
patienceholmes'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: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
dealfea'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
4.25
Storywise I quite liked the book. I enjoyed the murder mystery, the supernatural elements and the magic system in use. It also felt quite culturally relevant with some obvious criticism of the rich kids being able to get away with anything.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
bonjour11111'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
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Excrement and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing
desiderium_incarnate'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? It's complicated
4.25
Really excited for the next one.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
faduma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
I have quite a few gripes with this one. Listen, I love dark academia as much as the next Master’s student, but I don’t like authors writing outside of their lane.
There’s been a ton of (very fair) criticism about Leigh Bardugo, a white person, writing from the perspective of a Latina woman who has the ‘did not earn her place’ stereotype at a prestigious university. There are PLENTY of racists out there who 100% believe that Black, Indigenous, and other people of color don’t earn the spots they have at colleges and universities, and are rather only there because they’re being used to meet a quota, and subsequently taking the spot of some deserving white person, which is entirely FALSE. This is RACIST. And this is
This is a huge issue, and one that GREATLY dropped my review of a book I think I otherwise would have enjoyed. Secret societies? Yes, give it to me. Murder? Absolutely. A character that can see ghosts? Hell yeah. But it’s all overshadowed by the fact that Bardugo chose to write a character like Alex.
I’ll probably read the second one, considering I have it already, but I don’t think I’ll be buying the others. If I’m really pressed about the mystery, I’ll just google it.
Rating: 2.25
Would I recommend? No. I refuse to recommend books I disagree with on a morality issue.
Content warnings: Rape (implied, discussed), Sexual Assault (on page), Child Rape (on page), Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Overdose, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder (on page), Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Racism, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer
slayingxdemons'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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and Classism