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catch__up's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Self harm, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Pregnancy, Racism, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Self harm, Death of parent, and Stalking
natyourusual_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
1.5
This book was beautifully written at certain points but painfully slow. It was a struggle to read it despite the cool magic system and general concept BECAUSE of the pacing. I love the idea of children with magic/special talents that are taken to a “school” of sorts for development and protection while there’s a big bad putting the world at risk. It’s a solid premise. Add some vaguely steampunk-ish elements and ensemble cast, and I’m sold! However, I found that the plot twists were too predictable, the pacing was absolutely abysmal (even for a more epic-style story), and a lot of plot points/character portrayals were a bit… uncomfortable… to say the least. I really wanted to love it and the more I read the more I realized that this author was fantastic in the more condensed chapters and the story truly could have benefitted from condensing the narrative a bit more. If you do not mind major spoilers, my more specific critiques will be below:
Okay, so in terms of the problematic parts of the story, there is the portrayal of England as this haven of inclusivity and diversity during the Victorian period that felt a little odd. Like, Charlie Ovid is a black character that was saved from being tortured for eternity in America. This is fine and makes sense given American history, but they don’t keep the same energy for when he reaches England (which was definitely not a beacon of inclusiveness at the time either). Like Charlie is (obviously) scared of white people and he’s told something along the lines of “you’re safe, you’re not in America anymore, we’re not like that here” and nobody so much as looks at him funny, when we all know that’s some weird England apologist nonsense. Also, there’s a lot of telling us that Alice Quicke is a hardened badass without showing us nearly enough. Apart from that, I feel like some of the violence against women (especially sexual violence) was sort of added in as a way to make the story darker without any real commentary or care shown about the subject, which was a bit upsetting.
Moving onto the actual plot points:
- Jacob Marber being a morally gray character who’s not the REAL villain might have landed better if he had been written better. It was predictable but the excuses made for him seemed a bit contrived and almost like an afterthought given the scale of what he did and all the material Miro had to work with. Frankly, his character arc could’ve been resolved if he just communicated with people after the druhgr seduced him. I’m sure if he told Coulton “everyone is evil, we gotta do something about it and make sure the orsine is closed forever” the man would’ve helped him. Same with a lot of other characters. Tbh, he could’ve bided his time and done things differently and maybe it would make more sense if he actually tried to do things the “right” way but lost his way at some point. It also could have been good to see him be betrayed/framed for some things so it could be more ambiguous as to whether he’s eighth or wrong.
- Dr. Berghast being evil all along was also predictable as was his using the missing children as experiments to replace/fix the glyphic. Frankly, I was shocked he wasn’t outright sacrificing them and using their blood for something given the way the book was going, though I suppose what he did do was just as bad.
- By the time we find out who Marlowe’s mom really is, I didn’t really care and I think that’s a testament to how unnecessarily complex the author made the story and how painful it was to get through.
- Coulton becoming a litch was also very predictable given his hatred/disgust of them, the way he died, and then how his body wasn’t collected when he died. While I’m on the topic of litches, we didn’t need to constantly be reminded what they look like. We know. We got it the first two times. The needle-like teeth don’t need to be restated every scene. We got it.
- The final fight (in the last couple chapters) was incredibly convoluted. I missed Walter Laster and Jacob Marber actually dying (which I’m calling it now that Jacob isn’t dead and they’re gonna try to make him have a Zuko-style redemption arc) because it was so convoluted and awful.
- Switching POVs and time jumps started off fun but became a drag to read after a while. I love a good flashback situation but sometimes the steps back and forward were too often or the POVs switched at weird times. There was even a section around chapter 39 where they changed POVs like 6 times on the same page. I’m glad it was only a one time problem but that was really annoying and halted the flow of the story a lot.
- Some parts, for all the over explaining throughout the story, got glossed over at weird times. We still don’t know much about the weir bents or the old artifacts but we know they were integral parts of the story that characters with POV sections knew a lot about, so why over explain the way a litch looks and how Alice is totally a badass with no nurturing to her despite her being primarily a mother figure the whole book, when really we needed real plot-specific world-building explanations?
Anyways, I wanted to love this but just felt relieved it was over in the end. I don’t see myself continuing the series. I’m sure it’s a book for someone, however, that someone isn’t me. If you start reading the book and find that it’s dragging too much for your liking, just know it doesn’t get better in that regard. I think the author is great when he feels the need to be concise and brevity is what this novel lacked overall in many aspects. Also, well-written women. There weren’t a lot of those either…
Moving onto the actual plot points:
- Jacob Marber being a morally gray character who’s not the REAL villain might have landed better if he had been written better. It was predictable but the excuses made for him seemed a bit contrived and almost like an afterthought given the scale of what he did and all the material Miro had to work with. Frankly, his character arc could’ve been resolved if he just communicated with people after the druhgr seduced him. I’m sure if he told Coulton “everyone is evil, we gotta do something about it and make sure the orsine is closed forever” the man would’ve helped him. Same with a lot of other characters. Tbh, he could’ve bided his time and done things differently and maybe it would make more sense if he actually tried to do things the “right” way but lost his way at some point. It also could have been good to see him be betrayed/framed for some things so it could be more ambiguous as to whether he’s eighth or wrong.
- Dr. Berghast being evil all along was also predictable as was his using the missing children as experiments to replace/fix the glyphic. Frankly, I was shocked he wasn’t outright sacrificing them and using their blood for something given the way the book was going, though I suppose what he did do was just as bad.
- By the time we find out who Marlowe’s mom really is, I didn’t really care and I think that’s a testament to how unnecessarily complex the author made the story and how painful it was to get through.
- Coulton becoming a litch was also very predictable given his hatred/disgust of them, the way he died, and then how his body wasn’t collected when he died. While I’m on the topic of litches, we didn’t need to constantly be reminded what they look like. We know. We got it the first two times. The needle-like teeth don’t need to be restated every scene. We got it.
- The final fight (in the last couple chapters) was incredibly convoluted. I missed Walter Laster and Jacob Marber actually dying (which I’m calling it now that Jacob isn’t dead and they’re gonna try to make him have a Zuko-style redemption arc) because it was so convoluted and awful.
- Switching POVs and time jumps started off fun but became a drag to read after a while. I love a good flashback situation but sometimes the steps back and forward were too often or the POVs switched at weird times. There was even a section around chapter 39 where they changed POVs like 6 times on the same page. I’m glad it was only a one time problem but that was really annoying and halted the flow of the story a lot.
- Some parts, for all the over explaining throughout the story, got glossed over at weird times. We still don’t know much about the weir bents or the old artifacts but we know they were integral parts of the story that characters with POV sections knew a lot about, so why over explain the way a litch looks and how Alice is totally a badass with no nurturing to her despite her being primarily a mother figure the whole book, when really we needed real plot-specific world-building explanations?
Anyways, I wanted to love this but just felt relieved it was over in the end. I don’t see myself continuing the series. I’m sure it’s a book for someone, however, that someone isn’t me. If you start reading the book and find that it’s dragging too much for your liking, just know it doesn’t get better in that regard. I think the author is great when he feels the need to be concise and brevity is what this novel lacked overall in many aspects. Also, well-written women. There weren’t a lot of those either…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Miscarriage, Child death, and Sexual assault
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Racism, Ableism, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, and Police brutality
Minor: Abortion
evafantasy's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An ARC was lent to me by my local bookshop.
This was spectacular. Perfect balance between dark and gritty and a flicker of hope and warmth. All the characters are so engaging, all of them so complex and compelling. The writing is a pleasure, fluid as a river. Loved it !
I started reading and then Heartstopper and OFMD put me in a reading slump, I wasn't even in the mood to finish it anymore but I did, and I enjoyed it immensely ! So to tell you, it was good xD
TW - , implied rape, miscarriage, death, beating, racism, misogyny, murder, self harm, parental abuse, gore
An ARC was lent to me by my local bookshop.
This was spectacular. Perfect balance between dark and gritty and a flicker of hope and warmth. All the characters are so engaging, all of them so complex and compelling. The writing is a pleasure, fluid as a river. Loved it !
I started reading and then Heartstopper and OFMD put me in a reading slump, I wasn't even in the mood to finish it anymore but I did, and I enjoyed it immensely ! So to tell you, it was good xD
TW - , implied rape, miscarriage, death, beating, racism, misogyny, murder, self harm, parental abuse, gore
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Racism, Self harm, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
Minor: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
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