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readsbymoonlight'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
There are so many things I loved about this book. 1) The world building was really impressive and fleshed out. It felt like every character had their own backstory and the history of the world beyond the scope of the main story felt real and like there was a lot more to learn about it. 2) Lots of lovable characters. And Bryce is just fucking awesome. 3) The themes of friendship, love, and grief were beautifully portrayed in the story. 4) The banter between Bryce and Hunt is great. And the slow burn!! *fans self* Let’s just say I’m running out to get book 2 immediately (for…ahem…reasons)!
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, and Slavery
camille_peterson'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: Alcohol, Drug use, Violence, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Body shaming
meliait's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
viireads'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Classism, Drug use, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Abandonment, Alcohol, Misogyny, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
iqdq'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, and Suicide attempt
emmacartlidge'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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Violence, Drug use, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Addiction, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming and War
forgetbeenot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Cursing, Body shaming, War, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Classism, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
my_corner_of_the_library's review against another edition
I'd like to give my reasons for DNFing, but this is not an official review, which is why there is no star rating...
1. Slut Shaming: There is so much slut shaming in this book, that it started to become uncomfortable to read. I feel like SJM was trying to make a point of writing a girly main character by having a character who enjoyed showing off her body and was regularly concerned with her hair, makeup, and nails. This wasn't my problem, in a way it was refreshing, however...every guy in this book goes out of their way to let the reader know how disgusted they are by everything she wears and the way she is concerned with her hair. While it didn't feel necessary at any point, eventually it became down right irritating.
2. Lazy Writing: I am not a stickler for swearing in books, in fact, there's quite a bit of swearing in ACOSF and I didn't mind it at all. In CC, though, the f-bomb was dropped multiple times on EACH PAGE in a way that simply felt incredibly lazy. It was hardly even in dialogue. It was used in a way to emphasize whatever we were talking about, but instead of effectively emphasizing something, it was so overused that it just started to feel lazy. As if SJM simply didn't want to write apt descriptions of things and instead opted to use fuck as a way to get her point across.
3. Mafia Romance/Murder Mystery: I guess this one may be my fault, though I'll explain a little more. I went into this book knowing that it was quite different from her other books, and that it followed a murder mystery (which generally isn't my thing), but given that it was SJM and I generally enjoy her stuff I was excited anyway. However, this really didn't hit right. It genuinely felt as though SJM really wanted to write a mafia romance with the plot of a murder mystery but was scared to leave her fantasy world, so combined the two. If done properly, this wouldn't be a bad thing, but I really didn't enjoy it in this instance. Which leads me to my next point...
4. No Magic in a Magical World: At 25% of the way this intensely magical world failed to play any role in the plot of this book. If you replaced the houses and different races of creatures with different mafia gangs and the demon with a hitman this book would not be affected in the least. This is what really killed things for me. I was excited to explore this new world and all the different magic types that came with it, and instead we were regularly TOLD about how powerful everyone was, but we never SAW it. Not once in those 200 pages.
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Body shaming
gattolinos_nerdy_nook'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
5.0
I loved the overall plot and the mystery it held. It kept me going with all of the twists and turns. I gasped, I regretted what happened, I loved what happen and by the end, I sat there with the book staring at the wall whispering "What the fuck. What the fuck." As I had to comprehend how everything ended and went down. I also thought "Thank the gods that book two is out now and I don't have to wait a couple of years.". I also liked that all the plot points from the start of the book were resolved and because they were resolved, there are now new plot points for the next book due to consequences. In a book that is 803 pages long, I would have been really annoyed that one of the plots points was not resolved for 'reasons'.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. There was a fun range of them and I also enjoyed jumping to different characters. Ruhn was one that I really enjoyed reading and watching interact with everyone. I found a lot of the characters in this book felt really well rounded and had their own lives, issues, and priorities. Granted not all were as all fleshed as others, it also comes down to how much they are written in the book and at what times. I am very excited to see who returns in the next book, and no doubt the new characters that Bryce and Hunt will work with and against.
Graphic: Drug use, Torture, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Sexism, Murder, Alcohol, Addiction, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Cursing, Xenophobia, Abandonment, War, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
naomi_'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Confinement, Death, Cursing, Body shaming, Blood, War, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, and Forced institutionalization