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riverstrongblood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book was intriguing and captivating from cover to cover. Each character is so well written with unique qualities and a sense of narrative specific to them. The diversity, the depth of character, the personal growth, and the great questions this book forces one to ask relative to its plot make for a deeply dynamic and simply excellent book.
I'm excited to read the next two books.
I'm excited to read the next two books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
viselik's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The book definitely has some interesting plots and themes, and I felt the plot twists made sense and were well done. I managed to figure out a few of them before they were revealed, so those felt good to experience. I like how the 'magic' system is explained for the most part and the culture of this world with the Tithing festivals and bone shard magic (even if I am curious why it's only bones from the skull, but I may have accidentally missed that part while reading).
The characters were all very interesting to me except maybe one or two, even if I felt that five main POV characters were a bit too much. I would have personally preferred having either Phalue or Ramani not having POV chapters, as I felt they just took up space that could have been better used elsewhere. Having them be in a relationship is definitely interesting. Still, it just made me really dislike Ramani as a character due to how she treats Phalue. I just did not see any connection between them from Ramani's POV chapters. Sand, I just was not interested in, they brought interesting concepts but they felt a bit disjointed with the rest of the book, even more so with the ending of their arc.
This book definitely holds up as a standalone (excluding some minor things). I always prefer a book in a series that can be enjoyed just as a standalone and not have to rely on the other books in the series to have a complete plot.
The characters were all very interesting to me except maybe one or two, even if I felt that five main POV characters were a bit too much. I would have personally preferred having either Phalue or Ramani not having POV chapters, as I felt they just took up space that could have been better used elsewhere. Having them be in a relationship is definitely interesting. Still, it just made me really dislike Ramani as a character due to how she treats Phalue. I just did not see any connection between them from Ramani's POV chapters. Sand, I just was not interested in, they brought interesting concepts but they felt a bit disjointed with the rest of the book, even more so with the ending of their arc.
This book definitely holds up as a standalone (excluding some minor things). I always prefer a book in a series that can be enjoyed just as a standalone and not have to rely on the other books in the series to have a complete plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
Humans meltingalli's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book is not romantasy. I feel like I've seen it in some romantasy lists, and while it is definitely fantasy and there is some romance, the romance is very much a side plot.
This book is not YA. Lin feels like a YA character, but that's it.
Anyway, this is an epic fantasy and I loved it. I loved all the POV characters. Usually with a cast like this there's 1 or 2 where I groan when I reach their chapter, but that didn't happen here. I love them all. It has cute animal companions. It has an interesting and unique magic system. It asks complicated questions about what it means to be human and have a soul. I love it.
This book is not YA. Lin feels like a YA character, but that's it.
Anyway, this is an epic fantasy and I loved it. I loved all the POV characters. Usually with a cast like this there's 1 or 2 where I groan when I reach their chapter, but that didn't happen here. I love them all. It has cute animal companions. It has an interesting and unique magic system. It asks complicated questions about what it means to be human and have a soul. I love it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
witcheep's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
There are multiple characters with their own POV chapters, and mainly three different plot lines to follow (the Emperor's daughter Lin, the smuggler Jovis, and the governor's daughter Phalue with her lover Ranami). In the beginning I was skeptical whether I'd manage to keep my interest in all these seemingly separate plot lines, but Jovis's smuggler affairs and boating takes him from island to island, entangling him into the other's plots little by little, which makes the whole book more interesting.
My absolute favorite character is Jovis, and I think the book is worth reading just to get to know him (and he is not the only good thing in the book!). Jovis has a good sense of humour, a good heart and a lot of common sense. Even in the middle of long-lasting grieving he doesn't hesitate to spring into action. And on top of that, he is humble. He insist he is not a hero, but he keeps doing heroic things even if he is tired of getting sucked up into other people's drama and is in it only for a pay or a means to his own ends. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Jovis's thoughts about him doing heroic deeds:
My absolute favorite character is Jovis, and I think the book is worth reading just to get to know him (and he is not the only good thing in the book!). Jovis has a good sense of humour, a good heart and a lot of common sense. Even in the middle of long-lasting grieving he doesn't hesitate to spring into action. And on top of that, he is humble. He insist he is not a hero, but he keeps doing heroic things even if he is tired of getting sucked up into other people's drama and is in it only for a pay or a means to his own ends. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Jovis's thoughts about him doing heroic deeds:
"I'm not a hero. I never set out to be a hero in the first place. Those children? Their parents paid me to rescue them."
So a habit was best to describe it. Habits were things done with little reason, over and over, until momentum made them more difficult to stop than to keep going.
Endless Sea, I was tired!
Jovis also has a companion animal, Mephi, who is a chimera-like magical creature in it's cub stage, and he grows throughout the book while learning more. Mephi can speak and has magical skills, most remarkable of them being that
"But you can do things others can't. Unless people exaggerate, you have the strength of ten men and can even make the ground tremble.
The worldbuilding is very intriquing with the unique magic system, and I couldn't wait to learn more about it throughout the book. The Emperor has bone shard magic and is very secretive about teaching it forward to his potential successors (his daughter Lin and his step son / Lin's rival Bayan). The bone shard magic has a resemblance to necromancy in the matter that the magic user builds a construct (a chimera-like body) from deceaced animal or human parts. What animates these constructs is a bone shard – or multiple of them –
Besides this bone shard magic, the book references ancient foes, god-like creatures called Alanga, who had very powerful magic completely of their own. They were defeated by the Emperor's ancestors a long time ago, and the Emperors since have sweared to keep the people safe from them. The Alanga have been gone for so long though, that the people have reduced them to myths and begun to question if they are a threat at all anymore. It is teased that the Alanga might come back; their ancient artefacts of statues and murals have begun to open their eyes, indicating a possible end to their absence. This is what might be coming in the sequels, besides the political intrique of a possible revolution or at the very least a need for a political reform by the current ruler. As it has been so far, Jovis seems to keep being in the middle of all of this, connecting all the different plot lines of the different groups or sides in this Empire;
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Deportation
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
📖
This was good. I liked the worldbuilding and the lore. I struggle to care about any of the characters and their plot lines. While I liked parts of this book, I did struggle to stay focused and engaged at times.
This was good. I liked the worldbuilding and the lore. I struggle to care about any of the characters and their plot lines. While I liked parts of this book, I did struggle to stay focused and engaged at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Confinement, and Racism
dragongirl271's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Murder
Minor: Torture and Sexual harassment
fin_pilot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Minor: Animal death
srm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Well written with an interesting premise and worldbuilding that I don't want to say too much about, because it was great to discover as I read. Although, I'm seriously worried by ship is dead in the water, darn it. But maybe not. As twisty as this is, it could still happen. *fingers crossed*
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
nova_lilias's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.25
I love Jovis and Mephi.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Blood
thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
I really enjoyed this! I will say it feels like a first book. I can tell that Stewart has some big ideas for the story, and a lot of this book's time is spent trying to hurriedly get piece into place. As a result, the pacing is a little off, and some of the relationship dynamics between characters feel rushed; however, Stewarts writing is super engaging, the world/magic is cool and unique, and the story is playing with some of my favorite tropes. I think there's room for this series to be something really special, and I'm looking forward to continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror and Gore
I'm not sure how to label it (I went ahead and tagged gore and body horror, but that's not exactly it), but the magic system here is bone magic so there's a lot of death-adjacent stuff going on with that. I didn't find it to be particularly graphic or icky, but you know...it's bone magic.