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jenny_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
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.
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Violence
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual harassment
willowmae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Suicide attempt
elerireads'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? No
3.5
I found the gender and sexuality framework a bit confusing but I liked the idea of it - that a different society would have set up different ways of thinking about these things and terminology that reflected their belief system. But it did that classic thing of making all the characters confused and ashamed and then suddenly claiming that all these things were completely accepted and normalised, as if those feelings have nothing to do with existing in a prejudiced oppressive society.
For some reason I was really rooting for Jidras to be redeemed. Something about the way his character was built up made me feel like there was some hidden extra depth to his story that was going to be uncovered, but there never was. Bit unsatisfying because I thought there was more to be unpacked there.
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide attempt
carolined314's review against another edition
- 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
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
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Acephobia/Arophobia
stacyaj'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
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexism
dmfisher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Abandonment and Classism
friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Gaslighting, Outing, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, and War
cakeboxing's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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