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make_believer's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
This is my new favorite YA fantasy series. The world-building is incredible. It’s interesting to see a story where AI has taken over the human world. My favorite part of the book, however, was Crier. I don’t think I have ever loved a YA protagonist more. She is so incredibly naive and she makes absolutely idiotic decisions sometimes, but it’s because she truly means well. She truly wants to help everyone around her, and she wants to make the world a better place. And her relationship with Ayla is amazing. This is a slow burn romance for sure, and it is about as enemies to lovers as you can get. But that is once again one of the many reasons that Crier is so lovable. Ayla’s hatred of Crier and the system that Crier represents is absolutely valid. Ayla’s hesitance to trust and acknowledge her feelings for Crier make for a wonderful slow burn. Crier is so insistent on helping people, and so in love with Ayla from the start, that she completely misses the fact that she and Ayla are enemies. The yearning from both sides is beautiful. Ayla wants to badly to feel nothing towards Crier, and Crier wants so badly for Ayla to love her back. It leads up to an incredible ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Infertility
mothie_girlie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Violence, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
elwirax's review
adventurous
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
3.0
3.5/5 maybe?
PROS:
The writing style was very easy to get into. It flowed nicely and wasn't too flowery (although it seemed rather serious and lacked humour)
I liked the romance between Ayla and Crier. While it wasn't entirely a slow burn, it was a true enemies to lovers (back to sort of enemies). The moments of passion between them were tense and it was great.
The author did a great job of addressing power dynamics and privilege (specifically looking at the oppressed becoming the oppressors).
While Crier was not my favourite character I very much admired her determination to voice her own beliefs in politics despite her controlling father. I hope this is something that is explored more in the second book.
CONS:
The start of "Crier's War" was saturated with info dumping as opposed to having things revealed gradually. This made the pacing very jarring and siffting through the information was much more difficult by the half way point. While the flashbacks were relevantly placed they weren't all smoothly incorporated into the text and I was almost thrown off by the sudden change in timeline. (This did get better over the course of the book though)
The world building was very well done however character development and relationships weren't all there. At times Crier was far too naive and trustworthy for a character I thought was meant to be the complete opposite. I was supposed to be invested in her character the most (she is the lead after all), yet I found myself more interested in the side characters. As much I enjoyed the romance between Ayla and Crier I didn't think it was established enough for me to be fully invested.
I saw many of the plot twists coming (granted this is more my own fault for being so skeptical and questioning of everything)
Overall, I think this was a very good debut with intricate worldbuilding and an interesting plot. I enjoyed "Crier's War" enough for me to be invested in the second part of this duology and I can't wait to see how everything plays out.
PROS:
The writing style was very easy to get into. It flowed nicely and wasn't too flowery (although it seemed rather serious and lacked humour)
I liked the romance between Ayla and Crier. While it wasn't entirely a slow burn, it was a true enemies to lovers (back to sort of enemies). The moments of passion between them were tense and it was great.
The author did a great job of addressing power dynamics and privilege (specifically looking at the oppressed becoming the oppressors).
While Crier was not my favourite character I very much admired her determination to voice her own beliefs in politics despite her controlling father. I hope this is something that is explored more in the second book.
CONS:
The start of "Crier's War" was saturated with info dumping as opposed to having things revealed gradually. This made the pacing very jarring and siffting through the information was much more difficult by the half way point. While the flashbacks were relevantly placed they weren't all smoothly incorporated into the text and I was almost thrown off by the sudden change in timeline. (This did get better over the course of the book though)
The world building was very well done however character development and relationships weren't all there. At times Crier was far too naive and trustworthy for a character I thought was meant to be the complete opposite. I was supposed to be invested in her character the most (she is the lead after all), yet I found myself more interested in the side characters. As much I enjoyed the romance between Ayla and Crier I didn't think it was established enough for me to be fully invested.
I saw many of the plot twists coming (granted this is more my own fault for being so skeptical and questioning of everything)
Overall, I think this was a very good debut with intricate worldbuilding and an interesting plot. I enjoyed "Crier's War" enough for me to be invested in the second part of this duology and I can't wait to see how everything plays out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
"crier wanted to study her like a map. draw an easy path between all the specific yet scattered points of her."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
philmarie321's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Child death, and Blood
_meganmoretto's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
callumnova's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Death of parent
flogreant's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
lesbianbooksrgr8's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
one of my favorite sapphic books ever. enemies to lovers GOLD. poc rep is to the next level. not even a minute after finishing this i went to amazon and bought the sequel. not a homophobic world (which i love)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, and Kidnapping
there is a war in it so indefinitely there will be goremothman19's review
adventurous
hopeful
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief