Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Shadow and Bone

Decidedly on the okay to meh spectrum..

The world building and magic system is interesting (if not semi-lazy with the quasi-Russian culture) but the characters are flat and one dimensional. I was waffling on whether or not to continue the series but the idea of what comes next from the main character's POV doesn't thrill me so I'll probably look up what happens instead.

It's bizarre that the main character starts out as an orphan from war (roughly 8 years old), and seems mature beyond her 17 years by the time the main story arc starts (she is an apprentice cartographer in the army), and then regresses into angsty teenager drama full of petty, juvenile, and shallow plot points because of a chosen one trope?

Lastly, the romance was bad. Both dudes are controlling and manipulative, want to possess her, don't actually care what she wants. Think of any high school romance drama and you will understand the tropes thrown in this book. There's literally a glow up/makeover scene (multiple times actually because they want to emphasize how much she's changed from the 'skinny-but-not-in-a-hot-way' person she was before).

Content Warnings

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.25

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goodgraces's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

4.25

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tahia's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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? Yes

2.25

This book was quite average. Just so you know, please take into consideration that the content warnings are not spot on and are from what I remember from the book. Proceed with caution.

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ginfizz's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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_piercingwords_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Now I wanna say that I watched the show before reading this book, so I was spoilered which took the fun out of it a bit. (The show is a very good adaption thoug and stayed pretty close to this storyline, even though it is combined with Six of Crows duology)

It was... Fine. But it felt like a typical YA fantasy book and I read the Six of Crows duology first, which caught me a lot more. One who expects an equal to it may be a bit disappointed. Also not a huge fan of first person narrated stories.

Overall still an enjoyable read, if I get the chance I will read the other parts, the storyline has potential.

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