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kateped'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Child death
cady_sass'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
3.75
There is no next book yet, and I kind of wish this was the final installment. There was a clear ending available here but she didn’t choose it, and the cliffhanger is a bit underwhelming.
Graphic: Confinement, Child death, Blood, Violence, War, Sexual content, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Torture, Sexual violence, and Rape
zimmerlemon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, and War
sarah_speaks'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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
mightymaite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
After seeing the relationships between the characters change and develop over multiple books, it was the perfect time for the Joining to happen. Very natural progression to get here. Tastefully written, full of love and friendship.
This book was the perfect bridge between Poppy's and Nyktos' storyline.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Grief
hapalyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, War, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
maddysbooks_'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
3.75
i wasn’t a fan of the fact that the first 75% of the book poppy and casteel were separated and that it took that long for them to reunite. for me, that entire part of the book dragged on for way too long. the only redeeming part was being able to see how kieran and poppy’s relationship developed.
which is another thing that i’m unsure about with this book. i’m not sure how i feel about the almost reverse harem dynamic that’s happening. that being said, i don’t hate it.
the last quarter of the book was great though. the reunion between poppy and casteel definitely lived up to all that buildup. and the action scenes were also great, as was the final scene at the very end.
as always with this series, i’m very intrigued to see what happens in the next book.
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement and Torture
roget's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.0
This series would be so much stronger if space that was given to all the tone-ignorant quipping and pages of unnecessarily aggressive, uncomfortable exchanges were instead given to expanding the lore.
The real plot is crammed into info-dumps in dialogue—just like, lecture after lecture of some being or another backtracking like “Well, ACTUALLY…” and then re-explaining lore and ancient relationships that’d already been explained and re-explained half a dozen times but apparently incorrectly. The consort? Interesting plot line. I wish we’d have gotten more of that development.
The Malik-Poppy backstory reveal was absolutely undercut by the series’s penchant for throwing gossip girl-style shocking “twists” at us every five minutes, not to mention the tonally inconsistent suggestive and situationally abhorrent illicit comments. The series isn’t respectful to Kieren, either. He’s basically treated like Poppy’s arm candy this book, and Poppy’s character is shockingly undynamic given the many, many changes she’s been through. She’s still acting like the angry, impulsive, and brash kid who’s playing at power without really understanding it.
The pacing is weird.
As for the content…
I’m interested to know more about the primals and their clearly warped family tree. I want Poppy to return to Ileesium. I want to see more of those dynamics unfold. I wish the book would spend more time and nuance developing that and Poppy herself.
Kind of just reading to find out what happens and how it wraps up at this point, which is disheartening. I’m sure some people find this series fun or entertaining, but the issues have sort of spoiled it for me, at least.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, War, and Torture
kaylahcc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Torture and Gore
Minor: Rape and Death of parent
widdlemun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Torture, War, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Child death