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chanlo1994'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
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Torture, War, Body horror, Excrement, Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cannibalism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Kidnapping, Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Torture, Blood, and Drug abuse
bluerskies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Torture, War, Blood, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Cannibalism
ashleynp24'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, War, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Vomit, Death, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Torture
josxphinchen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Torture, Excrement, Misogyny, Body horror, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, and War
novel_nibbles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Despite my disappointments SJM is still an auto buy author
Moderate: Torture, Cannibalism, Blood, Confinement, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Grief
Potential spoilers ahead… *I loved the romance between Rune & Lydia and could have read about them ALL DAY * I need a marriage of convenience book about Tharion and Sathia. She was such spunky character and I would have loved to know her better and while we’re at it I need a HEA for our girl Hypaxia. *I didn’t mind Ithans ARC but honestly if I have to hear him mention sun ball one more bloody time or the scent of a particular omega one.more.time * I liked how SJM touch upon the potential chaos follow the change in management and power vacuum. It’s definitely something I’ve seen neglected in other bookssavshanae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
As one of my friends put it, “it feels like she flew too close to the sun” and I wouldn’t be sad to see this book dropped into the ocean forever.
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Bullying
sam_gartley91'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? No
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gun violence, Classism, and War
Moderate: Police brutality, Cursing, Misogyny, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Excrement and Abandonment
annabithebook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I am so disappointed in how many things I disliked in the series. Let’s make a spoiler-free list in no particular order:
1. Open plot points from HOSAB were just effectively dismissed and no actual meaningful resolution occurred.
2. Where the fuck was Fury and why was she not a bigger part of this?
3. 75 perspective changes inside of a single chapter with no indicator (especially bad in the audiobook format) this made an already 30 hour book take literal HOURS of extra time rewinding and listening again to try and figure out who did what and when it changed.
4. Dumbass characters making reckless stupid decisions.
Sub point here: it really felt like in the early stages of TOG where people are young and reckless and immature but instead of them having the time and lived experiences over 8 books to grow and mature into the better version of themselves (which was 👌🏻) the entire “arc” occurs crammed into one book and feels thin/baseless/disingenuous.
5. I never thought I’d say an 800+ page book should have spread things out more but it should have been two separate books (á la Eos & ToD). There were just too many ambitious plot lines/characters/stories competing for page time and so instead of trimming some to fully flesh out the ones you keep or splitting into two books, they’re all sort of chaotic and rushed which makes the story feel disjointed and inauthentic.
6. Kind of related to 5, but SJM is famous for her character growth and well balanced storylines with beautiful relationships, but she just didn’t give herself the space to do that with this novel or really CC as a whole.
7. The crossover infodump.
8. SJMs famous “why didn’t you just tell her that in the first place.”
9. SO MUCH HEAD ST@BB1NG
10. Hunt/Bryce seem like a couple who should really just break up…. 😬
11. Bryce in general (weakest SJM FMC in terms of how well they’re written as leads).
12. Other main cast characters who aren’t even in this book.
13. Characters who only appear when SJM needs them for a plot function so they feel like tools and not people.
14. Questionable science “oh yeah, let’s just hold the _____ ____ open!” 😒
15. The rumbly in Baxian’s tummy that only hands can satisfy.
Now. A much shorter but MAY CONTAIN VAGUE SPOILERS list of what I loved:
1. Ruhn/Lidia - they got snubbed like Lorcan/Elide from more page time
2. Jessiba
3. The sprites
4. The message of unity
5. Patricide
6. ……it’s not a good sign that I ran out at 5 things?
Honestly, my thumbs are tired but if you want a more comprehensive and, frankly, hilarious review that is literally all the thoughts in my head too, here is another amazing GR reviewer’s thoughts: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4553540457
TLDR; didn’t DNF because I was stubborn but it tried to be too many things at once and so instead it was successful at nearly nothing. Very disappointed 😢 1.75⭐️
Graphic: Slavery, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Addiction, Abandonment, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Murder, War, Violence, and Medical trauma
sabickerstaffe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, War, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Cannibalism