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aliteraryescape's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Torture
accidentallyinspace's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book wants to be The Starless Sea so badly.
Reads like a first draft of a much better book. As is, most character development is skipped / unearned, a romance makes no sense, and tertiary character motivations change on a whim to suit the plot. Lore is poorly developed and unclear, despite the author clearly wanting us to be shocked and swayed by "reveals" later.
The only plot detail I liked was (spoilers)the fact that the mother didn't show up to magically save the day.
Reads like a first draft of a much better book. As is, most character development is skipped / unearned, a romance makes no sense, and tertiary character motivations change on a whim to suit the plot. Lore is poorly developed and unclear, despite the author clearly wanting us to be shocked and swayed by "reveals" later.
The only plot detail I liked was (spoilers)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Torture
wnderwuman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief
kryptidnerd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For a boom filled with rocky time skips, plot holes and poor main character decisions this book really saved itself in the back half.
Violet in the first quarter of the book was very unlikable and bratty for really no reason other than plot. Then when she showed growth that growth got taken away by a boy who she barely knew and knew betrayed her, but it seemed like that knowledge went out the window and wasn’t brought up again. Also she was said to have hoards of talent, but it was never showcased. Aleksander was your basic dark hair broody mysterious man from other fantasy books, but done just well enough that the basicness could be overlooked. The fact that you know they will get together in the book is the only chemistry they share otherwise there is really no defining moment or relationship building that makes you want to like them as a couple.
Outside of the main characters, Summers does paint some gorgeous imagery with her worlds and has a way with making them dark when the magical veil is lifted. Her magic and gifts really do come with a price. The way she embraces dark fairytale imagery kept me going through this book. The descriptions of sacrifice and violence while not too graphic did paint a harrowing imagery. This alone secured the 3 star rating for me.
Plot wise there was a lot that was left to be desired. The missing mother was never really resolved and left open ended almost like there was going to be more to the story. It felt like a lot of plot points were introduce to propel the story without any resolution or quick fixes. The only one that felt compelling to be and I liked being open ended was the tale that was told to give premise to the curse. Stories change over time and that was a great use of that device.
I am genuinely curious as to what Georgia Summers has to offer in her writing future and see how she grows as a story teller. This book might not have been for me but it was a nice quick read for me.
Violet in the first quarter of the book was very unlikable and bratty for really no reason other than plot. Then when she showed growth that growth got taken away by a boy who she barely knew and knew betrayed her, but it seemed like that knowledge went out the window and wasn’t brought up again. Also she was said to have hoards of talent, but it was never showcased. Aleksander was your basic dark hair broody mysterious man from other fantasy books, but done just well enough that the basicness could be overlooked. The fact that you know they will get together in the book is the only chemistry they share otherwise there is really no defining moment or relationship building that makes you want to like them as a couple.
Outside of the main characters, Summers does paint some gorgeous imagery with her worlds and has a way with making them dark when the magical veil is lifted. Her magic and gifts really do come with a price. The way she embraces dark fairytale imagery kept me going through this book. The descriptions of sacrifice and violence while not too graphic did paint a harrowing imagery. This alone secured the 3 star rating for me.
Plot wise there was a lot that was left to be desired. The missing mother was never really resolved and left open ended almost like there was going to be more to the story. It felt like a lot of plot points were introduce to propel the story without any resolution or quick fixes. The only one that felt compelling to be and I liked being open ended was the tale that was told to give premise to the curse. Stories change over time and that was a great use of that device.
I am genuinely curious as to what Georgia Summers has to offer in her writing future and see how she grows as a story teller. This book might not have been for me but it was a nice quick read for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture and Violence
kestrel_of_the_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
5.0
A gothic globe-trotting urban fantasy with elements of horror and mystery.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
ohennui's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Torture and Murder
eviethebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Confinement and Torture
Minor: Emotional abuse and Fire/Fire injury
kiwij96's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I genuinely have no idea what the plot is to this story and I have read it. It was just 340 pages of nothing which is so disappointing because the concept for it was so interesting.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (one of which Gabriel later tries to fight off with a chair, an event that genuinely made me consider DNFing for the 8th time but it was 100 pages from the end so ) and friends of her mother who do absolutely nothing to progress the story or help her understand anything.
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (and honestly I don't love the fact that the Russian character is written as what is essentially a terrorist ).
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Undoubtedly beautiful prose and an interesting fantasy premise that blends a modern setting with an old world dark fairytale vibe (via portal doors). Overall, however, the story, pacing, and character development just didn't click for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
embee007's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
“Do you really believe the curse isn’t real? That the divine never touches you? That the wheeling cosmos is but an abstract of chemicals? Do you not hear the stars sing, little dreamer?”
The proooooose 😍
"She is glory. She is devastation. And she is hungry."
If you loved the imagery of The Starless Sea or wished The Starless Sea had a plot? This is the book for you.
"What joy it will bring us to see you undone."
This was a cover buy, & I have zero regrets, but ½ a point off because I once again fell into the quicksand trap of a gothic book & took nearly a week to read it 🫠
"From nothing, to nothing.”
The proooooose 😍
"She is glory. She is devastation. And she is hungry."
If you loved the imagery of The Starless Sea or wished The Starless Sea had a plot? This is the book for you.
"What joy it will bring us to see you undone."
This was a cover buy, & I have zero regrets, but ½ a point off because I once again fell into the quicksand trap of a gothic book & took nearly a week to read it 🫠
"From nothing, to nothing.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail