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sparksofkell's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child death, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Cancer, Classism, and Infidelity
katrinarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The author tackles some pretty big themes about the evils of capitalism and religion, the importance of history and learning from the past, the im/possibility of true altruism in humankind, the inescapability of unforeseen consequences of any choice whether it’s made in good or bad faith, and even more. While it doesn’t feel preachy, the amount of lessons woven into the story gets a bit unwieldy and at times, especially in the last third when everything comes to a head. There were some scenes that just didn’t really make that much sense given what we knew about the magic system/world and it seemed like the author was writing without any rules to get to the finish line and make her point. The author also loves to string the reader along with bits of information at a time by having her characters unnecessarily withhold information from each other, and while this isn’t inherently a problem, I found myself frustrated at times because there didn’t seem to be a reason to withhold the information except for convenience, to not give away the answers before the big reveals. There are also several unanswered questions which always feels disappointing.
Overall I did enjoy the series even though the first book felt like an overdone typical fantasy and the second, while better, still felt like set up for this book. It is one of those series that truly brings you on a journey and I liked it for that, and it’s originality.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, Confinement, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Torture
kalmia31's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Abortion, Confinement, Trafficking, Slavery, Addiction, Body horror, Abandonment, Mental illness, and Outing
erinlilym'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, Slavery, and War
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
smashlyn09's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence