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jenny_librarian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
I didn’t connect at all with this story. It has been recommended to be time and time again due to the MC being ace. That’s great, but it’s about the only part I somewhat cared for.
The story was all over the place, with secrets on top of secrets on top of secrets. They lost me halfway through with all the spy agencies/ secret societies and royal intrigues. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, and the ones I did appreciate weren’t developed well enough in my opinion.
It’s not a bad book, I just didn’t care for it.
The story was all over the place, with secrets on top of secrets on top of secrets. They lost me halfway through with all the spy agencies/ secret societies and royal intrigues. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, and the ones I did appreciate weren’t developed well enough in my opinion.
It’s not a bad book, I just didn’t care for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Violence
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual harassment
ohmage_resistance's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This book wasn’t quite for me. It was a bit too angsty. I could see that other people might really like it though.
I read this book for its asexuality representation, and I think it did a really good job exploring that. I think the author wrote this as a book they wish they could have read when they were younger, and you can really tell (in a really wonderful way). It was brought up a lot, and I could see that Kamai’s struggle to accept her asexuality would resonate with a lot of aces. It also did a very good job explaining the basics of asexuality and introducing the idea of romantic orientations. (Can I just mentioned how impressed I am that Strickland managed to sneak in a fantasy version of the Split Attraction Model into the book?) I really liked how queer this book was in general (gay/bi/trans side characters) as well as having multiple ace characters. The only major downside is that the word "asexuality" is never used (because of the fantasy setting), which is completely understandable. Also, Kamai and the other major asexual side character both have very similar orientations/experiences, which means that it does tend to emphasize one particular time of asexual experience, which is another nitpick I have.
I read this book for its asexuality representation, and I think it did a really good job exploring that. I think the author wrote this as a book they wish they could have read when they were younger, and you can really tell (in a really wonderful way). It was brought up a lot, and I could see that Kamai’s struggle to accept her asexuality would resonate with a lot of aces. It also did a very good job explaining the basics of asexuality and introducing the idea of romantic orientations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
There is a bit of internalized aphobia.carolined314's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ace representation! A bit of a gothy, morbid, political twisty fantasy - not quite my cuppa.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Torture and Infidelity
abbyschalupa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Acephobia/Arophobia
cardanrry's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Sexism
basementofbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Toxic relationship
cakeboxing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
Holy hells, this book was a rollercoaster of emotion. The pacing was sort of all over the place in the beginning, but after the first big event of the book, the plot just took off running.
The concept of this book was a little out of left field for me at first, but once I got into it, I loved everything about it. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. Reading this book was as effortless as breathing, the author's prose and style were easy to breeze through, allowing me to greedily devour this book in only a couple sittings. I would often look up and realize that a couple hours had gone by when I had only meant to read for a few minutes.
Grief and mourning are huge themes in this book, but they way they were written feels realistic and often cut me to the bone. I cried several times throughout.
One of the best things about this book is its obvious yet respectful inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes.Our main character is ace and demi, and likely bi, but nothing is really cemented in place (Sexuality and identity are fluid after all), her best friend is trans, and there are many nuanced references to gay and lesbian relationships and interactions throughout the story. Not only are these things accepted, but they are even celebrated within the pages of this book. There are even specific terms that are used for such individuals, new soul and soul crossed.
It was refreshing to read a book with LGBTQ+ content that wasn't focused on homophobia, transphobia, or bigotry of any kind. The closest to that we see is a couple short sentences of internal fear where the main character worries that there is something wrong with her and wonders how others will perceive her, but everyone around her responds with love and respect for her identity.
As someone who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I loved seeing this representation and how it was shown. I hope I can read many more books like this, and I also hope that our real world can take a page from books like these.
The concept of this book was a little out of left field for me at first, but once I got into it, I loved everything about it. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. Reading this book was as effortless as breathing, the author's prose and style were easy to breeze through, allowing me to greedily devour this book in only a couple sittings. I would often look up and realize that a couple hours had gone by when I had only meant to read for a few minutes.
Grief and mourning are huge themes in this book, but they way they were written feels realistic and often cut me to the bone. I cried several times throughout.
One of the best things about this book is its obvious yet respectful inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes.
It was refreshing to read a book with LGBTQ+ content that wasn't focused on homophobia, transphobia, or bigotry of any kind. The closest to that we see is a couple short sentences of internal fear where the main character worries that there is something wrong with her and wonders how others will perceive her, but everyone around her responds with love and respect for her identity.
As someone who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I loved seeing this representation and how it was shown. I hope I can read many more books like this, and I also hope that our real world can take a page from books like these.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
meagangrace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
If I’m being honest, I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book. There were quite a few things that weren’t great but my enjoyment outweighed most of those. If I was reviewing it strictly on writing quality and technicalities my rating would be less high. But I’d feel ingenious rating it lower because it was the prefect book I needed at the time I read it. So my review is just going to be a simple pros and cons list so you can decide for yourself (i was able to thoroughly enjoy it despite the cons)
Pros:
- diverse cast (both LGBTQ+ and skin color)
—> main character is on the asexual spectrum which was refreshing
—> secondary character is trans
—> multiple side characters are gay, bisexual, etc.
-interesting plot revolving around dreams and souls and sleep
- tension and suspense is done really well
- fictional pantheon that I found interesting
- likable main character
- light and fun read
Cons:
- sometimes things happen and it feels very much like they happen for plot reasons (they don’t feel as natural and it can pull you out of immersion a bit)
- some of the descriptions of buildings felt like they went on a little longer than necessary
- quite a few cliches
- felt rushed in some places
- left me wanting a bit more immersion and depth when it came to the worldbuilding (more about how the world works!)
neutral:
- toxic relationship (sometimes it feels like it’s romanticized and sometimes it feels like its not, it wasn’t clear so it might depend on how you read it)
Pros:
- diverse cast (both LGBTQ+ and skin color)
—> main character is on the asexual spectrum which was refreshing
—> secondary character is trans
—> multiple side characters are gay, bisexual, etc.
-interesting plot revolving around dreams and souls and sleep
- tension and suspense is done really well
- fictional pantheon that I found interesting
- likable main character
- light and fun read
Cons:
- sometimes things happen and it feels very much like they happen for plot reasons (they don’t feel as natural and it can pull you out of immersion a bit)
- some of the descriptions of buildings felt like they went on a little longer than necessary
- quite a few cliches
- felt rushed in some places
- left me wanting a bit more immersion and depth when it came to the worldbuilding (more about how the world works!)
neutral:
- toxic relationship (sometimes it feels like it’s romanticized and sometimes it feels like its not, it wasn’t clear so it might depend on how you read it)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide attempt, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cursing
ursociallyawkwardbud's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Acephobia/Arophobia