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isleoflinds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Death
kenziewol'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
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement and War
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, and Cursing
romiress'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
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Death, Torture, Misogyny, Body horror, Gore, Confinement, Blood, and Sexism
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
yasmilktea'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? No
3.0
3 stars is not too many stars but I didn’t dislike the book! It was just kind of 🤷🏻♀️. I enjoyed a lot of aspects, mainly the world itself and the mythology—so cool! Plus it was honestly very inspiring at points. I wanted to go fight something. And Ixa, Deka’s fantasy pet, was adorable.
The book had a lot of twists that were completely predictable to the point that I thought the characters already knew them…until the big reveals happened. Plus a lot of elements that felt out of place for the world/context. But my main issue was with the world-building because it felt a bit lacking. This could just be that we have an unreliable narrator, but I prefer my fantasies with a bit more…oomph. I mostly wanted more info on the different creatures and what their place was in the world, but maybe that’s coming.
All this said, the last 20% was so exciting that I will probably continue the series!
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, Sexism, War, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual assault
It is very gory, and deals with trauma and recovery a lot. And by gory I mean that we getdecembermagpie'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
4.5
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Self harm, Vomit, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Racial slurs, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Drug use
katsbooks'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? It's complicated
4.0
“The physical body—it heals. The scars fade. But the memories are forever. Even when you forget, they remain inside, taunting you, resurfacing when you least expect.”
“They might need us now because we're valuable, might pretend to accept us, to reward us - but never forget what they did to us first.”
I'll be real. I put this book down about halfway through and almost didn't pick it back up. But I'm really glad I did. Other than the dip in the middle, the world-building was solid and intriguing. The patriarchy that Forna depicted was hard to read at times but I couldn't help drawing parallels to the real world.
I really enjoyed the found family trope. The secondary characters were so lovely and I ended up really liking how the author seemed to hold up the platonic relationships to the same level as the romantic one. It made the romantic relationship feel healthy and grounded while also not letting it take over the rest of the narrative.
I am interested to see how the second book progresses given that this one seemed to wrap up pretty nicely. It's almost like the author wasn't sure she if she would get to publish the second one so left enough loose ends, just in case, while tying up the big, important ones.
I also want to give some pretty major trigger warnings for death, torture and violence. This is marketed as Young Adult but I would definitely push this towards older teen readers for those scenes alone. The main character and her friends can heal from almost any injury so there are multiple scenes of torture including a pretty prominent scene of dismemberment.
Graphic: Genocide, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual violence
stardust_heidi'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
Word of warning, definitely check out the warnings for this book from myself and other readers. It's more upper level YA in terms of themes of graphic: torture/death/violence/etc. There's a light romance, but it's certainly not the central theme of the book.
I loved this unique magic/power system -- it was a fascinating look at a society that deems woman as less than already, but if your blood runs gold, you're suddenly a demon and even more impure. It was powerful watching Deka come to acknowledge this and cast that twisted sense of worth (or lack thereof) away. I found the emphasis on sisterhood and the bonds of female friendship invaluable, and it was wonderful reading the transformation between them as they grew in trust and sisterhood with each other.
I loved the end of the book and will likely continue the series with the next book. However, it wrapped up in a satisfying way if you didn't want to continue.
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Death, Sexism, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
poffalina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Genocide, Child abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Confinement, War, and Misogyny
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
queergoth_reads'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: Torture, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Violence, War, Misogyny, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement and Racism
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
estelagois'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
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Slavery