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blakeandbooks'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
5.0
Why did no one force me to read this sooner?! What’s freaking masterpiece. Ikenna is such a badass who doesn’t take shit from anyone! So much happened from beginning to end — I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The audiobook? So so good! I’m excited to read book 2.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
Minor: Slavery
cass_cgallegos's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Classism
maresuju'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
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Genocide, Torture, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Colonisation
kaerene's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I need the sequel and I need it now. I am speechless. The plot. That ending. What an absolutely satisfying read.
This book has everything:
-Great World Building
-Creative World Building Info Dump (Seriously. I was so confused about the world in the first few chapters, I kept thinking that I was missing something and it super bothered me. BUT THEN!!! The author creates this scene with different characters answering world building questions in an almost classroom setting as part of the trials and I was amazed. It was so clever since the story/plot was already going in full force.)
-A Badass Female Main Character who kicks a lot of butt
-A+ Characters
-A+ Plot
-A Zuko/Avatar The Last Airbender-esque Redemption ark?! CHEFS KISS.
-So So Many Deaths
-Mystery
-Mayhem
-And takes a good long look at questioning authority, perpetuating and being complicit in racism and bigotry.
Highly highly recommend this to anyone who wants a fast paced story that does an amazing job at blending elements of sci-fi and fantasy together into something new. Definitely check trigger warnings as there are a lot unsettling things that happen around and to our FMC, Ikenna.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
fleur____'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Cannibalism, War, and Classism
Minor: Slavery
amberswips's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and War
mycarefulcardinal's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
miraileah'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kittykels's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Now with that out of the way, the story itself is really good and interesting, but needed some more refining. The last few hours felt very info-dumpy. The information was important, but it was a boring delivery for the most part.
The two best friends of the main character are a weird choice. I won't say too much to avoid spoilers, but they don't really make sense as a friend group and there's no reason to feel emotionally attached to them.
It's also hard to get behind Ikenna's motivations for her actions because we don't meet her grandfather on the page, we only have her memories. We're just told he's great and that's supposed to be enough to fuel her quest and for us to be interested in that quest.
I wish there was a little more depth to Ikenna. I don't dislike her as a character, but the only emotion we get from her is anger. Sometimes she's contemplative, but that usually just leads her to being angry again. There's nothing wrong with anger and she has very good reasons to be angry, but it's not enough for us to connect with her as a person and what she's going through. We should also have experienced her grief (especially her grief) and her joy and whatever else. Some of the major events were hard to care about from her perspective because we don't really get that emotional connection. I guess it could be argued that perhaps this is an intentional choice, and Ikenna is using anger to suppress her feelings of grief and any other emotion that could distract her from her goal. I could buy this for external purposes, but it's not convincing within her private thoughts.
I do look forward to the next book and really hope to see some improvements to the characters and our emotional attachments to them.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and War
Minor: Murder
lqvekanej's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Cursing