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theespressoedition's review
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Infidelity, Antisemitism, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Excrement, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
pewterwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Luzia seizes the chance to better her self, but as her notoriety grows, the danger of her Jewish blood grows as, if she gets found out, the Inquisition’s wrath will be unspeakable. She has to stay several steps ahead. But the rules are always changing in the Spanish court and not everyone gets out alive.
I think I have to finally admit to myself that historical fiction and me aren’t going to get along and I need to stop pushing this genre onto my TBR lists.
I struggle with them. This audiobook took me a month to get through. I started it the week of release, but I really struggled to connect with this. Plus, my brain was all over the place So I couldn’t really focus on this. But, when I did sit down and listen, I found myself bored and not connecting with the characters and the story.
The story felt very slow and quite heavy (at times) for me. I like stories to have some pace when it starts, but it felt as if it took an age for the plot to charge forward. If you are a fan of slower burn of a plot where you get to know the characters, this is for you. But I find I like to know characters when they are doing something or when the plot is moving.
While I wasn’t a fan of the story and the characters (they’re flawed characters, but not exactly likeable. I understood why they behaved the way they did, but I found it them frustrated and every time I found an element of them that I liked, something happened and I would be back at square one with this character), I am a fan of Leigh Bardugo’s writing and it fits so nicely with the audiobook’s narrator, Lauren Fortgang. I know she has read several other books by Bardugo, but this partnership works.
But this wasn’t for me. If you are a fan of historical fiction with an edge of magic, you should check it out. But be warned, it is a slow burn of a plot and can be heavy in places.
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, War, Antisemitism, Gore, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cursing and Infertility
Minor: Dementia and Death of parent
midnightrose_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: War
torturedreadersdept's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Gaslighting, Violence, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Antisemitism, Body horror, Hate crime, Torture, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Abandonment, and Bullying
emma_lynn_writes's review
4.0
Things that I didn't love: the romance that jumped from 0 to *spice* and the ending.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
chasinggrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Leigh Bardugo you have DONE IT AGAIN!! A dark romantic fantasy set in 1400’s Spain that features a determined girl and a cursed immortal man. The pure YEARNING from this man absolutely made the book for me. The way he phrased his love for her was beautiful - this writing was fantastic.
This is gothic fantasy, so slightly slower and darker than epic or ramantasy novels. But I loved it just the same. Not all of the characters were likable, and many were hatable. I found myself thinking, “this is gonna end badly” so many times because I couldn’t see a way out for our FMC.
Moderate: Death of parent, Slavery, Classism, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
ohennui'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
4.0
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Blood, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Physical abuse
soniajoy98'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Classism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Gore, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Grief, Biphobia, Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Infertility, and War
sweetoof's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, and Animal death
Minor: Misogyny and Vomit
camiclarkbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Medical content, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, War, and Pregnancy