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anaisdai30's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Death, Abandonment, Violence, and Murder
sweetjuicee_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
BOOK TW: Alcohol, blood, degenerative disease, guns/gunshot wound, manipulation, murder, sex scenes (not explicit), suicide
After I bought this book, I only saw hate for the plot and the characters (other than Elizabeth). I can completely understand where this hate for this book is coming from, but honestly, I thought that this was a great book — especially in comparison to my last read.
~~~~~~
The main six characters (Parisa Kamali, Tristan Caine, Callum Nova, Reina Mori, Nico de Varona and Libby Rhodes) are selected to be in The Alexandrian Society and have to train their magic to make sure that they're one of the five that make it to the next year. This book was very slow paced, but since so much of the book was mainly focused on the characters learning from both the library and each other, I could excuse it. I think it sped up at the right places Spoiler particularly the invasion and the part where they plan and fail to murder Callum but I enjoyed the fact that the book wasn't totally action-packed.
I also like Blake's writing style: she's great at showing not telling; she can handle the multiple perspectives pretty well without repeating things in another person's point of view, and I love how well she can describe something for pages and pages. If she wrote a book with zero dialogue, I'm 90% sure I'd enjoy it. Her descriptions were interesting and the only thing that took me out of the book was an occasional piece of dialogue or the fact that I had to force myself out of the book to do a separate task.
That's not to say it wasn't without its faults.
There wasn't a lot of 'rigorous' study that's suggested in the blurb, since the book focused more on the characters' thoughts and feelings towards the others in the society and their lives back home. Furthermore, the magic system is quite confusing — how do you figure out who's a medeian? Do they need to have median family? It seemed like Libby didn't. Can all medeians cast a certain type of magic, or did they have to go to specialists for illusions? I have a bad habit of filling in the gaps in my head, so I didn't realise until I read a review pointing this out.
~~~~~~
I'm fairly conflicted on some of the potential romances in this book. I'm always partial to romantic subplots, but there's something a little off with most of the romances that have been hinted at in the book; it feels almost unethical to ship them.
Trislibby is one I can't get behind because of the age gap, and I don't really think there's much to say about it.
Novacaine really splits me. On one hand, their moments together are adorable and I've accidentally read spoilers about how their relationship develops in TAPSpoiler with Callum's one-sided pining for Tristan and asking Parisa if she's been in love before, and I adore pining, one-sided or mutual which is so heartbreaking. On the other hand, if either of them got therapy, they would've never been attracted to each other, and that would be a good thing for both of themSpoiler because still being in love with the guy you stabbed/the guy who stabbed you is kind of crazy in my opinion.
I personally haven't seen enough for me to support Nicolibby, but I get the appeal behind it, since they start to tolerate each other much more (and because Nico's the closest thing Libby has to a friend in the society). If their relationship is developed in TAP, then I could support it.
The only ship that is the healthiest (even though it probably isn't that healthy) is Nicogideon. It's obvious that both of them care for each other more than the other knows, and it definitely surpasses a normal "best friend thing" (I love my best friends, but I do not want their problems), but if Olivie Blake turns around and says that they're not meant to like each other then I won't scream and cry over it.
~~~~~~
To reiterate, I like how Blake's managed the six different perspectives in the story. I feel that at times their characters and thoughts blend into one, but the majority of the time, she does a great job at separating them and their thoughts and feelings.
My final thoughts on the characters are as follows:
Parisa: I like her. It's very interesting how she and Callum have similar personalities and they see each other as villains in each others' stories. Their abilities both rely on people not being truthful and manipulating them to get the information or reaction they want or need. I'm intrigued to see how she changes and develops (or doesn't) in the second book.
Tristan: The first thing that comes to mind is that he needs therapy, but he's the type of person to complain about how it disrupts his work life. He, Callum and Libby are probably my top three main characters.
Callum: I think he's an underrated character. I'm always drawn to characters that have complicated morals and those who very easily make mistakes when picking alliances in books like this.Spoiler In isolating himself from the others and only allying himself with Tristan, he dug his own grave with the others and with himself. If he refuses to talk to the others, they'll think he's rude and be upset that he thinks that they're not worth his time, and since he and Parisa have similar (ish) abilities, they'll choose to eliminate the one who didn't bother to talk to them and think of him as expendable. He also dug his own grave with how he only spoke to Tristan as he doesn't seem to have any outside friends other than family ones that are all about business. Callum has also chosen to befriend the one person that can see through his illusions — Tristan both literally and figuratively is the only person there that can see the real Callum Nova, so only talking to the others out of necessity, but talking at length to the one person who can see through you is obviously going to do a number to your self-worth. He would've developed an us vs. them mentality eventually, and then having to kill the one person that you liked because he chose to side with "the enemy" is going to fuck you up mentally. He's definitely one character that I would've loved to be in the head of more, and I'd love to explore his relationship with his family a little more as well.
Reina: I've never liked her. From the beginning to the end, I never liked her. I understand just how important she is Spoilerand how she can't die for Atlas' plan to work but I seriously cannot stand her character. I had to skim read one of her chapters because she annoys me as a character so much. "I only feel strong platonic feelings" for whom? For what? Not your ability, not anyone around you, so what do you feel platonic feelings for? Books? She's the type of person to make fun of you because you aren't reading the classics every day.
Nico: Honestly, I think he's a little weak as a character by himself. I don't remember his perspectives as much as the other five and it seems like he prides himself on being Libby's rival and being better than her. I'm interested to see how he has changed in the second bookSpoiler now that his rival is trapped in the dimension of time.
Libby: I wanted to hate her, but she's too relatable as a character. Her constant need for everyone to like her hinders her as a physicist and as a person. She also dwells on things a lot. She felt a little like looking in a mirror, and I felt bad when the other characters spent their time talking about how they hated her. I think she was coming out of her shell a little and was much more confident towards the end, which was nice.
The other notable characters (Atlas, Dalton, Gideon and Ezra) were also really nice to read about. I like how nicely Blake tied up loose ends with Ezra'a perspective and how neither Ezra nor Atlas could be seen as the villains immediately. I really like Dalton and Parisa's relationship, even though it's one-sided and Parisa benefits much more than Dalton. Gideon is probably my favourite character in the book.
~~~~~~
I really liked reading this, but there's something that prohibits me from giving it all 5 five stars. I had the same problem with TSHEH where I liked it, but it didn't have a 5 star quality. I may not reread it for a while, but I'm very excited to read the second book and I hope it's as good as this one.
After I bought this book, I only saw hate for the plot and the characters (other than Elizabeth). I can completely understand where this hate for this book is coming from, but honestly, I thought that this was a great book — especially in comparison to my last read.
~~~~~~
The main six characters (Parisa Kamali, Tristan Caine, Callum Nova, Reina Mori, Nico de Varona and Libby Rhodes) are selected to be in The Alexandrian Society and have to train their magic to make sure that they're one of the five that make it to the next year. This book was very slow paced, but since so much of the book was mainly focused on the characters learning from both the library and each other, I could excuse it. I think it sped up at the right places Spoiler particularly the invasion and the part where they plan and fail to murder Callum but I enjoyed the fact that the book wasn't totally action-packed.
I also like Blake's writing style: she's great at showing not telling; she can handle the multiple perspectives pretty well without repeating things in another person's point of view, and I love how well she can describe something for pages and pages. If she wrote a book with zero dialogue, I'm 90% sure I'd enjoy it. Her descriptions were interesting and the only thing that took me out of the book was an occasional piece of dialogue or the fact that I had to force myself out of the book to do a separate task.
That's not to say it wasn't without its faults.
There wasn't a lot of 'rigorous' study that's suggested in the blurb, since the book focused more on the characters' thoughts and feelings towards the others in the society and their lives back home. Furthermore, the magic system is quite confusing — how do you figure out who's a medeian? Do they need to have median family? It seemed like Libby didn't. Can all medeians cast a certain type of magic, or did they have to go to specialists for illusions? I have a bad habit of filling in the gaps in my head, so I didn't realise until I read a review pointing this out.
~~~~~~
I'm fairly conflicted on some of the potential romances in this book. I'm always partial to romantic subplots, but there's something a little off with most of the romances that have been hinted at in the book; it feels almost unethical to ship them.
Trislibby is one I can't get behind because of the age gap, and I don't really think there's much to say about it.
Novacaine really splits me. On one hand, their moments together are adorable and I've accidentally read spoilers about how their relationship develops in TAPSpoiler with Callum's one-sided pining for Tristan and asking Parisa if she's been in love before, and I adore pining, one-sided or mutual which is so heartbreaking. On the other hand, if either of them got therapy, they would've never been attracted to each other, and that would be a good thing for both of themSpoiler because still being in love with the guy you stabbed/the guy who stabbed you is kind of crazy in my opinion.
I personally haven't seen enough for me to support Nicolibby, but I get the appeal behind it, since they start to tolerate each other much more (and because Nico's the closest thing Libby has to a friend in the society). If their relationship is developed in TAP, then I could support it.
The only ship that is the healthiest (even though it probably isn't that healthy) is Nicogideon. It's obvious that both of them care for each other more than the other knows, and it definitely surpasses a normal "best friend thing" (I love my best friends, but I do not want their problems), but if Olivie Blake turns around and says that they're not meant to like each other then I won't scream and cry over it.
~~~~~~
To reiterate, I like how Blake's managed the six different perspectives in the story. I feel that at times their characters and thoughts blend into one, but the majority of the time, she does a great job at separating them and their thoughts and feelings.
My final thoughts on the characters are as follows:
Parisa: I like her. It's very interesting how she and Callum have similar personalities and they see each other as villains in each others' stories. Their abilities both rely on people not being truthful and manipulating them to get the information or reaction they want or need. I'm intrigued to see how she changes and develops (or doesn't) in the second book.
Tristan: The first thing that comes to mind is that he needs therapy, but he's the type of person to complain about how it disrupts his work life. He, Callum and Libby are probably my top three main characters.
Callum: I think he's an underrated character. I'm always drawn to characters that have complicated morals and those who very easily make mistakes when picking alliances in books like this.Spoiler In isolating himself from the others and only allying himself with Tristan, he dug his own grave with the others and with himself. If he refuses to talk to the others, they'll think he's rude and be upset that he thinks that they're not worth his time, and since he and Parisa have similar (ish) abilities, they'll choose to eliminate the one who didn't bother to talk to them and think of him as expendable. He also dug his own grave with how he only spoke to Tristan as he doesn't seem to have any outside friends other than family ones that are all about business. Callum has also chosen to befriend the one person that can see through his illusions — Tristan both literally and figuratively is the only person there that can see the real Callum Nova, so only talking to the others out of necessity, but talking at length to the one person who can see through you is obviously going to do a number to your self-worth. He would've developed an us vs. them mentality eventually, and then having to kill the one person that you liked because he chose to side with "the enemy" is going to fuck you up mentally. He's definitely one character that I would've loved to be in the head of more, and I'd love to explore his relationship with his family a little more as well.
Reina: I've never liked her. From the beginning to the end, I never liked her. I understand just how important she is Spoilerand how she can't die for Atlas' plan to work but I seriously cannot stand her character. I had to skim read one of her chapters because she annoys me as a character so much. "I only feel strong platonic feelings" for whom? For what? Not your ability, not anyone around you, so what do you feel platonic feelings for? Books? She's the type of person to make fun of you because you aren't reading the classics every day.
Nico: Honestly, I think he's a little weak as a character by himself. I don't remember his perspectives as much as the other five and it seems like he prides himself on being Libby's rival and being better than her. I'm interested to see how he has changed in the second bookSpoiler now that his rival is trapped in the dimension of time.
Libby: I wanted to hate her, but she's too relatable as a character. Her constant need for everyone to like her hinders her as a physicist and as a person. She also dwells on things a lot. She felt a little like looking in a mirror, and I felt bad when the other characters spent their time talking about how they hated her. I think she was coming out of her shell a little and was much more confident towards the end, which was nice.
The other notable characters (Atlas, Dalton, Gideon and Ezra) were also really nice to read about. I like how nicely Blake tied up loose ends with Ezra'a perspective and how neither Ezra nor Atlas could be seen as the villains immediately. I really like Dalton and Parisa's relationship, even though it's one-sided and Parisa benefits much more than Dalton. Gideon is probably my favourite character in the book.
~~~~~~
I really liked reading this, but there's something that prohibits me from giving it all 5 five stars. I had the same problem with TSHEH where I liked it, but it didn't have a 5 star quality. I may not reread it for a while, but I'm very excited to read the second book and I hope it's as good as this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol
tomas_lw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fun premise, exceptional characters, pretty good execution.
The plot is simple and fun. Six magicians with exceptionally powerful specialities are selected to join a secret society. But only five can actually join at the end. Cue intrigue, sex, betrayal, magic weirdness, love, hate, death and other fun things.
Over all the book was a great read.
I do have som complaints though.
First of all the author seemed to almost forgot entierly about Reina for almost the entire book which was disapointing since her opening chapter made me really attached to her. I really hope she gets more to do in the next book.
And the ending of the book is very out of left field and exposition heavy. It felt like the author at the last time decided to turn the book into a trilogy and rewrote the ending to set up the sequels. It's a bit heavy handed and not entirely satifying. So lets hope it pays of in the next books!
Also, the book could have had a bit more things happening as most of the book is either characters talking with or thinking about the other characters. Don't get me wrong, I love all these characters and the talking and plotting is terrific, but the pacing of the book could probably have been better with some more action in the middle.
Overall, a great read as I said above and I'm definitely getting the rest of the series ASAP.
The plot is simple and fun. Six magicians with exceptionally powerful specialities are selected to join a secret society. But only five can actually join at the end. Cue intrigue, sex, betrayal, magic weirdness, love, hate, death and other fun things.
Over all the book was a great read.
I do have som complaints though.
First of all the author seemed to almost forgot entierly about Reina for almost the entire book which was disapointing since her opening chapter made me really attached to her. I really hope she gets more to do in the next book.
And the ending of the book is very out of left field and exposition heavy. It felt like the author at the last time decided to turn the book into a trilogy and rewrote the ending to set up the sequels. It's a bit heavy handed and not entirely satifying. So lets hope it pays of in the next books!
Also, the book could have had a bit more things happening as most of the book is either characters talking with or thinking about the other characters. Don't get me wrong, I love all these characters and the talking and plotting is terrific, but the pacing of the book could probably have been better with some more action in the middle.
Overall, a great read as I said above and I'm definitely getting the rest of the series ASAP.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol and Death
Minor: Pedophilia
caseymac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, and Confinement
vagrantheather's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Felt like the author conceived it in the same world as The Magicians. Libby's initial narrative is so juvenile that I planned to return the book to the library. Gave it a second chance and it does become a thoughtful, reflective, interesting book instead of a middle school writing level enemies to lovers. But I never quite fell in love with the narration. I love magic and urban fantasy, love dark academia, love dark fantasy. But this didn't hit. I didn't find the plot to be compelling, not was I vested in any of the characters. The author spent a good portion of time fleshing out their thoughts and reasons, but I didn't feel like I have a shit tbh. The twist at the end makes me somewhat curious, but it was basically the first time in the book I felt curious what would happen next, and I don't think I'm interested enough to pursue the next book.
Not to say it's an awful book by any means. I've certainly read MUCH worse. The writing quality is fine (if not beautiful), the characters are passably well developed (even if they didn't really grow at all), the concept is interesting (though the pacing needs work). The writing made me think of Erin Morgenstern, though less poetic, and I had similar issues with the pacing in her books.
Not to say it's an awful book by any means. I've certainly read MUCH worse. The writing quality is fine (if not beautiful), the characters are passably well developed (even if they didn't really grow at all), the concept is interesting (though the pacing needs work). The writing made me think of Erin Morgenstern, though less poetic, and I had similar issues with the pacing in her books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Child death
jadorelecafe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Minor: Car accident, Child death, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Addiction
eule's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A book that I surprisingly enjoyed even though it was heavily focused on the character dynamics (multiple povs). If you love a scientifically based magic system, diverse characters and a mysterious plotline this book is for you. Sometimes it seems slow-moving but it is all worth it for the cliffhanger in the end. All in all, we can agree that all of the characters are extremely hot (Parisa!!!) and we need to support Nico x Gideon. I cannot wait to read the sequel (sadly my friend will have to read it first :()
Ps: Thank you to my friend Tyler for recommending and lending me this book. Love you ^^
Ps: Thank you to my friend Tyler for recommending and lending me this book. Love you ^^
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
bookswithmaia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Cursing, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
themiscyra_anna's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-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? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
beetayz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I am still unsure if I like this book or not, or if I’ll pick up the next in the series. There is a theme of actualizing your full potential and unfortunately I think the author missed the opportunity to do the same.
I did find myself enjoying moments of this book and some of the plot battle scenes, but other times I felt like I might put it down unfinished. The writing often felt like the author was glancing at a thesaurus and it brought me out of the story. I expected more character development and actualization of plot to happen but the pace was so slow and the world is not well depicted.
I can see why it has a cult following and once I dive into this genre more, I think I’ll know if it’s worth it for me to continue.
I did find myself enjoying moments of this book and some of the plot battle scenes, but other times I felt like I might put it down unfinished. The writing often felt like the author was glancing at a thesaurus and it brought me out of the story. I expected more character development and actualization of plot to happen but the pace was so slow and the world is not well depicted.
I can see why it has a cult following and once I dive into this genre more, I think I’ll know if it’s worth it for me to continue.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism, and Alcohol