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paladinpals'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Alcohol
ceruleanshelves's review against another edition
4.5
“Once, there was a girl who vowed she would save everyone in the world, but forgot herself.”
i'm starting to think there will never be a holly black book i don't love.
in a town that lives alongside faeries and magic in a wary truce, there lies a horned boy in a glass coffin never waking... until one day he does.
“They loved him because he was a prince and a faerie and magical and you were supposed to love princes and faeries and magical people.”
one thing i especially loved about this book was the camaraderie with the main cast. as black notes in her annotations, these are the nicest people she's ever written lol. hazel and ben are one of the best sibling pairings i've read (side-eyeing taryn), and even the parents in the town have some of the best examples i've seen in fantasy.
“You and your sister are very dear to each other. To show your regard, you give each other lovely bouquets of lies.”
it was also fun to see black write a friends to lovers romance, still with its Folk whimsy and tension. i could definitely tell she wrote this right after The Coldest Girl in Coldtown bc the horror influences were a little elevated from her usual writing, the Folk and the danger a little creepier.
“Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill monsters and feel quite proud of themselves.”
a holly black world would be terrifying to fall into, but also so wondrous.
“I need to stop fantasizing about running away to some other life and start figuring out the one I have.”
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Grief, and Death of parent
sabinehunter'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
noellegrace8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was disappointed at how quickly the action was resolved and how we got such a bird's-eye-view of Severin and Ben's relationship with him. In my opinion, Ben would have been a far better main character choice than Hazel. Hazel was basically the Wish.com version of Jude Duarte. And Jack was, unfortunately, not very well developed. Altogether, the characters in this book either fell flat or weren't explored enough. I also really dislike the high school approach, mostly because it always focuses on partying and stupid decisions, which I couldn't even relate to while I was actually in high school.
I give Lauren Fortgang 4/5⭐. Sometimes she had it down so well - the vocal choices, the gender switching, all of it. Other times, like with Severin, her voice did not really match the character and description well.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Self harm, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism
rafacolog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Blood
katy_bee'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
3.75
YA romance storylines don't always land well with me but this was well handled.
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse
10stormlight's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Blood
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
itsmeaemma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and War
erzywerzy'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Self harm, and Alcohol