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courtnoodles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Body horror and Abandonment
booksthatburn's review
Setting aside the audio for a moment, I can't stand Gul. She was fine but a bit annoying, then midway through she shamed a girl for what she thought was a history of sex work but turned to actually have been rape and other abuses while a small child. Gul ended up apologizing and the only thing I liked about it is that the other person didn't accept the apology. Even if she'd been correct that it was sex work and consensual, that still would have been awful to try and shame her for it. In terms of the writing for the other girl, she was wielding that history of sexual abuse to try and say Gul wasn't ready or tough enough because she hadn't suffered enough as someone who'd "only" had her parents murdered in front of her.
The oppression olympics are noxious, I have zero emotional investment in Cavas (supposedly the love interest but at over halfway through I'm not seeing that yet, he's just a boy who's there), and I don't like Gul.
Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Gore, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Sexual content, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Excrement, War, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Child death
beautifulpaxielreads'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
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, Murder, Sexism, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence and Torture
maregred'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Classism, War, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Sexual assault, Torture, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder
lunar_witch's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder
nitya's review
- 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
The pacing was a little rough, especially at the beginning, but the ending scenes definitely made up for it. And the instalove might not appeal to everyone but I didn't mind it here. The use of Hindi and Urdu worked so well (even for the words I didn't know - thankfully there's a glossary).
I can't WAIT to dive into the ARC for the sequel!
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Genocide, and Slavery
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
decklededgess's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the cross of mythology and fictionalized fantasy throughout and the use of multiple South Asian languages to create the worldbuilding. I was a bit underwhelmed by the chosen one plot but not so much that it was boring. I have yet to read enough brown chosen one tropes before they get tiresome. I think this book would have been far more enjoyable had the narrator been able to pronounce literally ANY of the non English words INCLUDING the names. She could do only the basic ones and even then they sounded a little off. Publishers if you could be so kind as to find narrators who KNOW PRONUNCIATIONS that would be great. Especially when these books are SET abroad. South Asian American stories are different. American accents are part of diaspora. They are not part of indigenous South Asian stories.
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, and Violence