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ajhling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book is a fun read. It's obvious that the author doesn't have much experience in writing, and that - at least in the Google Books edition I had - there was some minor formatting and spelling issues.
But despite the clear inexperience of the author, I found myself enjoying the book. The cast of characters weren't 'diverse' in the real-world sense. But to be fair, its a fantasy world with fantasy nations and cultures, and we only know there are other cultures in this world because they were occasionally mentioned very briefly.
That being said, the characters that were depicted weren't of the same physical appearance (not all white, or supermodel 'pretty'), and at least two side characters were revealed to be not-straight (so for those of you that care about that sort of thing you'll find a little bit of representation).
However, there were definitely character tropes happening. The Villain (the love interest for the fenale protagonist) being described as really attractive and physically strong. The female protagonist having black hair and light-blue eyes (which apparently is seen as a cliche these days that doesn't bother me but apparently bothers orhers).
Random bitchy female character who would be the high school girl who thinks she's better than everyone because 'reasons' in a YA novel, but in this one she is a co-worker who thinks she's better than everyone because 'reasons.' A dumb geeky-jock-like character clearly crushing on the bitchy co-worker but probably doesn't stand a chance.
But even with the cliches and the plot being a little 'holey' (which is unsurprising because this whole idea for the story literally started thanks to a TikTok serie and was originally created for fun and enjoyment) the story was still good.
Would I say it was great or revolutionary? Nope. But it was still a great light-hearted read for when you don't want to read something too heavy or with to many 'moving parts' or complex lore.
Was the world and character building a little on the weaker side of things? Yes. But don't worry, there was character development for not just the maim characters but fir secondary characters as well (and most of the character development happened in the last five-odd chapters). Despite this the characters were interesting enough that I cared about what happened to them.
Will I be reading the sequel? Yes, because I genuinely want to know what happens next.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Torture, and Grief
Most content warnings were only briefly mentioned or implied. Only two were more obvious (gaslighting, blood and violence and sexual harassment coming up or implied more than the others) but even then they weren't overly explicit. The most explicit was description of an injury that resulted in death of a number of people.jenn_chem'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
5.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Torture, Sexual assault, and Child death
evhanson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Murder
shinypurplepants's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There's the feeling initially that you'll have a slow-burn romance between the villain and assistant through these random vignettes of their everyday life. That's not what carries the back half of the book, instead, there is supposedly a plot to find a traitor in their midst. It's poorly handled (and honestly very boring) in its execution and reveal. I wasn't shocked at all just annoyed by how round about it took to get there.
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Torture
torrentsofhayl's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Confinement, Alcohol, Gore, and Misogyny
Moderate: Kidnapping and Cursing
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
racheldonna14's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Confinement, and Sexual assault
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Gore, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
jackiepreston's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Torture and Sexual assault
chai_latte_auroras's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Murder, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Violence, Cursing, Blood, Misogyny, Torture, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
bergha1998's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fantasy, Romance, Office Romance
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Misogyny, Chronic illness, and Torture