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bookfulthoughts's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
“I am the spark that will set the worlds afire. I am the hammer that cracks the chains.”
I really liked this one! The story was extremely well written and interesting. The world building was excellent and extremely detailed. I was able to visualize exactly what was happening and what everyone looked like! I like that the plot was never lost in the storytelling and this book sets up for the rest of the books in the series perfectly. I do believe that I can see this book becoming a classic in the near future. I loved the concept of the color classism and how that was presented. In my opinion, that was a unique aspect of the story. I also loved that Darrow wasn’t perfect! I he has many flaws but that’s what makes this book good. It gives his character room to grow and develop in complexity.
My reasoning for not giving it 5 stars. Personally, in certain parts of the book it was very reminiscent of the Hunger Games. Having inspiration is fine and I have no problem with that. I’m not sure if it's just me but some scenes felt too familiar. Another thing I took points off for was the fact that I felt like I should have been more emotionally attached to certain characters but I didn’t feel much when things happened. I felt like it was a little cold at times with other characters. Besides these issues, I really liked this book and I do plan on reading the rest of the series in the near future.
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual assault, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Stalking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Racism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Genocide, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Self harm
eliaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexism, Genocide, Gaslighting, Cursing, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Confinement, Rape, Classism, Animal death, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Blood, War, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Murder, and Misogyny
Minor: Vomit and Death of parent
maddramaqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, War, Kidnapping, Sexism, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Classism, Misogyny, Torture, Slavery, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Fatphobia
yasidiaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The series was a whole lot more brutal than I expected and is one of the main contributors to this being a 4-star rating over a 5-star rating. We don't witness the most horrifying acts committed by the other characters, but it still happens way too much for my liking. Not enough to trigger me, but enough to dampen the book just a tad for me. I heavily advise reading the trigger warnings for this book before picking it up. It's not a book for everybody.
Another critique is the lack of diversity in this. At this point, most of the books I have read are incredibly diverse and when a book is not, it takes away some of the enjoyment. It also feels odd when this is obviously inspired by leftism, a movement that has, for many years, been led by BIPOC people. A part of me hopes that changes in later books, but from what I have seen so far, I don't think that will be the case.
Aside from that, the story was intriguing and the characters were complicated. It's interesting to read a story where the characters are sometimes hard to love, even our hero, but still able to enjoy. The set-up of the world and the political intrigue that I know will get stronger in the next book is the main selling point of this book. The Golds are ruthless and you want to hate them all, but you also slowly learn war is much more complicated than that.
Despite my early critiques of the book (which I still stand by) I am intrigued to see where this series will take me.
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, and Kidnapping
romina_elizabeth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
But I actually really loved this. I don't read this genre much, but I'm so glad I decided to give this one a chance.
I am HOOKED.
And, yes, Brown is right, I'm 90% sure that I'm going to bloodydamn love these books.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Torture, Slavery, Murder, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
lillelow's review against another edition
The book begins the worst possible way with drunk father figures and community leaders laughing about raping the protagonist’s wife - and no one raises an eyebrow. Misogyny, machoism, masochism, prostitution as a means of female survival and male pleasure, a world in which all women are beautiful, marry when they’re 14 and work with silk while all the manly men work in the mines… This is a sci-fi novel, a world of make believe. You can write about ANYTHING. Create ANY future. Yet this is what we get. I’m SO F* TIRED of reading about this bullshit.
I wanted to put the book down then and there, but decided to give it a go because of all the good reviews.
I shouldn’t have bothered. It doesn’t get better.
The premiss is interesting, but the execution and the character portrayal is horrible.
I didn’t like the protagonist at all. Clever, brave, strong, humble, hardworking, loving… All the right things! At least, that’s what I’m told. Honestly, all I see is a self absorbed insular teenager with no weakness who excels at everything he does for no reason other than he’s the chosen one. He doesn’t have to be likeable, but believable is quite important, and this book does none of it.
The supposedly romantic interactions between the protagonist and his wife are probably supposed to be charming and sweet but only feel stiff, cliche and childish and evoke no emotions at all. But hey, at least she is incredibly beautiful and we’re told everyone loves her… I guess that was enough for the author.
I didn’t like any of the other characters either. Even the ones who are described in good light are horrible, not to mention the way they express themselves. I’m not prude. Explicit language and swearing is fine. But most of the writing, dialogue, slurs and expletives in this book are just disturbing and annoying. You cannot make me believe people talk like this for real. Is it supposed to be cool?? I couldn’t stand it, I hated almost everyone and the flat writing did nothing to help.
At 40% through, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t care about the story or the characters and was mostly annoyed at it all. Ender’s Game’s the perfect chosen one meets the segregation and killing of The Hunger Games or Gladiator (only it’s terrible) in a violent color-coded elite school on Mars with some sprinkles… no, make that a heavy rain…. of machoism and sexism.
No thank you.
★★-
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Body shaming, Alcohol, War, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Death of parent, Sexism, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Cursing, Racial slurs, Body horror, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Rape, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Excrement, Gore, Death, and Eating disorder
lonelylooper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Death of parent, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia, Excrement, and Cannibalism
gemstonejasper's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Someone also said that this is a YA book, but it isn't. Darrow starts as a 16-year-old, but I have no doubt it was written for adults. Every time I was reminded that he was 16, it pulled me out of the story for a moment. It felt jarring. He didn't at all act 16. The audiobook narrator sounded like he was at least in his 20s. He was way too mature to be 16 and he starts out the story with a wife. I know that it was probably meant to demonstrate that kids are working these dangerous jobs in the mines. And his life experiences could 100% cause him to seem more mature than most 16-year-olds. But there are real developmental limitations on how his mind would work. So that pulled me out a few times.
To be honest, the book starts pretty slow in my opinion. It took me several chapters to really get into it. I liked it, but I would go a couple of days between chapters. But once they got into the school and things ramped up, I was in it. It just kept getting more and more intense. It was a wild ride, but I loved it. There were lots of surprises.
I would get a little annoyed because Darrow's motivation seemed to only revolve around his wife. It does struggle with the "woman written by a man" syndrome where his wife only existed and died to motivate him. Also, violence against women is used repeatedly to move the story forward. There were woman characters who only existed it be assaulted, and then Darrow could react to the abuse. There are other ways to show that someone is bad. Not every single bad guy needs to assault the women around them. But the rest of the book was really good, so I can overlook that.
Note: Sevro was the best by far. Protect him at all costs.
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Murder, War, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death, Slavery, Grief, Rape, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cannibalism
alainral's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Death of parent, Slavery, Murder, Classism, and Police brutality
Moderate: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Excrement
Minor: Kidnapping
naky'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Gore