Scan barcode
emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
On the surface, this book was promising. The magic and political systems were both really interesting, and I liked how the five main characters all had such dynamic reasons for their involvement in the heist, connecting back to the worldbuilding in captivating ways. That’s kind of where my positives for this story run out. One of my main issues is that it was too short to give the plot, world, and characters a chance to develop properly. The worldbuilding in particular was pretty thin outside of the city of Carrowick. Nash and Ryia had the EXACT same voice (could not tell them apart), and the romances felt forced.
Aside from this, the dialogue was so cliché it was cringey (literally nearly every line of dialogue was cliched, I couldn’t believe it). And perhaps most importantly, the heist sucked. It was just straightforward, linear action with no surprises or subplots - and it was also, like, WAY too easy All in all, I’m not convinced I’m going to pick up the sequel, but who knows.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Murder, Torture, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Vomit, and Physical abuse
Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual content, Trafficking, War, Gore, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Confinement, Excrement, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor warnings for forced separation from family, illness, epidemic, capital punishment, sick parent.celizardo7's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I’d like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it’s release. This is a really fun debut filled with morally grey characters that are all the rage nowadays. There were quite a few typos throughout which was a bit frustrating, but hopefully those get edited out. I didn’t find any of the reveals to be surprising but they still fit the progression of the story so it was still enjoyable. The dialogue is fun, but the characters still seem to fall a bit flat; for a debut these characters still had enough life that you wanted to follow them through to the end. The story overall is a good one and I look forward to seeing where the author takes this storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Gore
More...