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blewballoon's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
This book featured many tried and true staples (or tropes) of the YA dark fantasy genre. Apart from there being more character deaths than I initially expected, I found the plot somewhat predictable. Perhaps that's more due to the fact that I've read a lot of these kinds of books than anything else.
I found the two leads pretty likable, I am not a big enemies-to-lovers fan, so I appreciated a more refreshing example of two people who just happen to have natural chemistry and bring out the best in each other. They always treated each other like respectful equals, despite there technically being a power imbalance.
Praise be to Moira Quirk for her masterful narration, as always. I appreciate when audiobooks do dual narrators for dual POVs, but honestly I wouldn't have minded if she narrated the whole thing. Sorry to the male narrator, he was fine.
I found the two leads pretty likable, I am not a big enemies-to-lovers fan, so I appreciated a more refreshing example of two people who just happen to have natural chemistry and bring out the best in each other. They always treated each other like respectful equals, despite there technically being a power imbalance.
Praise be to Moira Quirk for her masterful narration, as always. I appreciate when audiobooks do dual narrators for dual POVs, but honestly I wouldn't have minded if she narrated the whole thing. Sorry to the male narrator, he was fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and Murder
Minor: Cursing and Physical abuse
loriengifford's review
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Violence, and War
kaylyn_loves_fantasy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.25
I’m usually not a fan of the slow-start books and not gonna lie it took a bit of effort to get through the first 50 pages and whatnot but I’m really glad I did! The commander recruit relationship is great, and I thought that Jude had such great depth to him. I did think the side characters should have been included in the story more, characters like Alec and Nic were just kinda there for me. But I always love when the author makes up a whole religion (like Caraval) and she did a great job building the world and the story around this central religion. The end was a real twist and a setup for a great duology or trilogy. I fell like this series should only go on for one or two more books, if it goes on for too long I think it will become like Maximum Ride or even Shatter Me towards the end. I really thought this was a great book though, an easy read too it’s you’re looking for a kind of in-between-series book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Cursing
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