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squinnittowinit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Edit: After thinking on this book a bit more, I've decided to lower the rating from a 3.75 to a 2. I kept trying to convince myself that this was a good story because I keenly understand the place it was written from, but beyond the bare bones of it, I don't think it actually was. I didn't enjoy the characters and I felt like the plot didn't actually make a whole lot of sense. I've decided that I will not be reading the sequel.
Original review:
Overall, this is a good story with a (unfortunately) very relatable setting: an oppressive society that treats certain people as lesser due to something inherent that they cannot control. I felt the author's pain and anger surrounding this real-world issue in the writing, and perhaps if this had been my first exposure to the mindset of the oppressed group, I might have found it more impactful. However, I personally found it a little tiring for specific reasons that I will mark as a spoiler below.
Again, it is a good story, just one I've seen many times already. Nothing about it surprised me and as much as I was rooting for them, I didn't love any of the characters by the end. I'm not sure if you're supposed to or not.
The specific reasons I found this book to be tiring have a lot to do with the main characters. All three were naive to a fault, and retained that naivete throughout the entire book, even as their views on certain things changed. I suppose it's realistic, as they are all teenagers and teenagers are very naive, but I found it very frustrating to read about them doing impulsive and very ill-advised things over and over again and then only afterwards thinking that they might have been bad ideas.
Next, there is the issue of trauma. This is a book based in racial trauma, which makes it automatically not a fun read for me. Again, I really want to stress that I'm not saying it's bad, but it's very real, and it's hard to laugh at any of the jokes or moments of levity when the whole book is about oppression and I already experience oppression nearly constantly in my real life.
Next, as I said above, nothing about this book surprised me. I was never on the edge of my seat or uncertain about the fate of the characters, because I've seen this story so many times. It hit all the beats I was expecting it to, and the only death I didn't predict was a character that I didn't care about at all.
Finally, the romance. I'm all for a good romantic subplot, but I couldn't get behind this one. It was going for "enemies to lovers" but was done with no subtlety, I felt like I was being bashed over the head with foreshadowing about this relationship. Then, the actual enemies to lovers part happened seemingly overnight, and they suddenly didn't hate each other anymore. The romance gave me some emotional whiplash and made me feel like I was missing time.
Original review:
Overall, this is a good story with a (unfortunately) very relatable setting: an oppressive society that treats certain people as lesser due to something inherent that they cannot control. I felt the author's pain and anger surrounding this real-world issue in the writing, and perhaps if this had been my first exposure to the mindset of the oppressed group, I might have found it more impactful. However, I personally found it a little tiring for specific reasons that I will mark as a spoiler below.
Again, it is a good story, just one I've seen many times already. Nothing about it surprised me and as much as I was rooting for them, I didn't love any of the characters by the end. I'm not sure if you're supposed to or not.
Next, there is the issue of trauma. This is a book based in racial trauma, which makes it automatically not a fun read for me. Again, I really want to stress that I'm not saying it's bad, but it's very real, and it's hard to laugh at any of the jokes or moments of levity when the whole book is about oppression and I already experience oppression nearly constantly in my real life.
Next, as I said above, nothing about this book surprised me. I was never on the edge of my seat or uncertain about the fate of the characters, because I've seen this story so many times. It hit all the beats I was expecting it to, and the only death I didn't predict was a character that I didn't care about at all.
Finally, the romance. I'm all for a good romantic subplot, but I couldn't get behind this one. It was going for "enemies to lovers" but was done with no subtlety, I felt like I was being bashed over the head with foreshadowing about this relationship. Then, the actual enemies to lovers part happened seemingly overnight, and they suddenly didn't hate each other anymore. The romance gave me some emotional whiplash and made me feel like I was missing time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Racism, Genocide, Classism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
tiredgirlreads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book - it was adventurous and the world building was absolutely fantastic. No details were unnecessary and I really felt involved in the fantasy world. It had been a while since I read a book like this and I did really enjoy it. The only reason it doesn’t get higher than 4 was because of the romance subplot that i didn’t really believe and didn’t want
But other than that, a big mix of heartbreaking and joy was felt during this reading.
But other than that, a big mix of heartbreaking and joy was felt during this reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Rape
macmannwood's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Sexual assault, Self harm, Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, Genocide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Hate crime, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Trafficking, and Suicidal thoughts
imgunnagetyou's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.25
i have many thoughts abt this book...
i feel like the charas, zel in particular ... goes back and forth with their ideals so much ?
for example, one page zel says that all the guards are just thieves and pieces of shit basically and its like ok true but later on in the book suddenly she doesnt want them to die?? example two: inan's entire arc???? this dude was HELLBENT on killing magic but sees zels memories and suddenly is like o thats a bad idea ig like how the fuck did, what, 18 years of brainwashing suddenly ppPoof just because of that? id understand if he hesitated but the way he completely changed over the course of 3 days was so annoying.
second,... i fucking hate insta love and my god its in here two fold its so bad too
example:one of the insta love couple is zel and inan, and.... how???? zel hates amari for the first half of the book bc amari is the kings daughter and the king is a massive piece of hot shit , HOWEVER amari never did anything bad, she was just blissfully ignorant until the day her dad decides to murk her friend. inan on the other hand, is basically their fathers pet, he led the attacks on them multiple times , went over to her village with in intent to kill her and burn it down , killed leksan (well kaea did but inan was chill w/ it ) but somehow zel falls in love with him all bc he has the sudden change of heart and doesnt kill her but frees her from the captors??
honestly i genueinly have no problems with the plot or anything but the charas just , are so badly written? they never stick to one ideal or wtv (for lack of better word, its on the tip of my tongue but i cant remember laymao)
anyway no joke im rooting for zel and amari <3 itll never happen but they literally have 10x10 more chemistry than all the other matchups combined. considering this is a trilogy (or soon to be) i honestly dont understand why the charas had to fall in love so fast making it seem completely unrealistic. especially w/ inan and zel god im so peeved over them
i hope the next books are better with this bc ill still pick up the sequels, again , no problems with plot i rlly enjoyed it and the atomopshere very dark very tragic and sad but the charas ...and ofc the only charas that dont annoy the shite out of me dies bruh LMFAOOOO
music listened to: Sacred Grove from Twilight Princess
time taken to read: 6:50:38
i feel like the charas, zel in particular ... goes back and forth with their ideals so much ?
second,... i fucking hate insta love and my god its in here two fold its so bad too
example:
honestly i genueinly have no problems with the plot or anything but the charas just , are so badly written? they never stick to one ideal or wtv (for lack of better word, its on the tip of my tongue but i cant remember laymao)
anyway no joke im rooting for zel and amari <3 itll never happen but they literally have 10x10 more chemistry than all the other matchups combined. considering this is a trilogy (or soon to be) i honestly dont understand why the charas had to fall in love so fast making it seem completely unrealistic. especially w/ inan and zel god im so peeved over them
i hope the next books are better with this bc ill still pick up the sequels, again , no problems with plot i rlly enjoyed it and the atomopshere very dark very tragic and sad but the charas ...
music listened to: Sacred Grove from Twilight Princess
time taken to read: 6:50:38
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
nico_asteri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault
hurricanecait7's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
theolivetree's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Slavery, Racism, and Racial slurs
dkayayay's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
_persephone_'s review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
It wasn't a mind breaking book, it followed a common fantasy plot of, girl with magical powers has to hunt down these magical objects to stop the evil king, but it was good. While the base of the plot was nothing original, the small details did set it apart. My only real complaints were that it fell within that toxic heterosexual relationship trope Inan literally betrayed her, broke her heart, burnt down her village, and aided in the death of her father. Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of toxicity in relationships in fiction but some things are too far. . And lets be honest, it would've been way better if Zélie and Amari got together instead, it still could've been enemies to lovers, just without all the added toxicity.
(The reason I gave the diversity level a 'It's complicated' was that despite how many people praise this book with it's diversity, it really wasn't. I loved that there wasn't a single white person, it was refreshing, when most other book have only white people. But its not diverse if everyone is the same race whether thats white or not. And I understand that maybe in the part of the world where the story took place there really was only black people, but like add in some diversity of sexuality or disabilities eta. Just my two cents)
(The reason I gave the diversity level a 'It's complicated' was that despite how many people praise this book with it's diversity, it really wasn't. I loved that there wasn't a single white person, it was refreshing, when most other book have only white people. But its not diverse if everyone is the same race whether thats white or not. And I understand that maybe in the part of the world where the story took place there really was only black people, but like add in some diversity of sexuality or disabilities eta. Just my two cents)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Genocide, and Sexual assault
Minor: Blood, Child death, and Slavery
sophiamoonlight's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Blood