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beccaand's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.75
man i love urban fantasy - this was real solid!
probably suffered a bit from having too many perspectives
probably suffered a bit from having too many perspectives
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Stalking, and Confinement
Minor: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cursing
e_len's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I honestly liked this book. The world was interesting and I liked the dark undertones, bleak atmosphere and the undercurrent of social critique.
The writing style was nice, easy to read as it is YA and the poetic descriptions of spellwork were nice to read, even if I could not understand the mechanics of it.
I liked the ending. Howard does not shy away from showing the consequences of decisions.
But it had major flaws:
1. It was not immersive. We do not get to be in the head of the characters, their thoughts and emotions were only shown sparingly. The reader has to guess from that, which was not said. But we do not have enough information nor have a reason to care for any of the characters.
2. Ties in into one. There are too many point of views, it was difficult to keep track of them, especially since some of them are really similar and have the same backgrounds.
The only one I cared a little about was Sydney, the main character, but even then we never zoomed in into her head.
3. World building problems. What about the magic outside New York? How come, it's not important? Why are the Houses Merlin and Dee in New York and not in England?
4. The fight between Sydney and Ian was really built up to be a fight for the death (which I cared nothing about because their romance didn't make sense to me anyway, but it was solved in a couple sentences and Sydney just gave up, (it was stated earlier that she could not, would never give up) and both walked away unharmed. All that built-up, all for nothing.
The writing style was nice, easy to read as it is YA and the poetic descriptions of spellwork were nice to read, even if I could not understand the mechanics of it.
I liked the ending. Howard does not shy away from showing the consequences of decisions.
But it had major flaws:
1. It was not immersive. We do not get to be in the head of the characters, their thoughts and emotions were only shown sparingly. The reader has to guess from that, which was not said. But we do not have enough information nor have a reason to care for any of the characters.
2. Ties in into one. There are too many point of views, it was difficult to keep track of them, especially since some of them are really similar and have the same backgrounds.
The only one I cared a little about was Sydney, the main character, but even then we never zoomed in into her head.
3. World building problems. What about the magic outside New York? How come, it's not important? Why are the Houses Merlin and Dee in New York and not in England?
4. The fight between
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Slavery, Stalking, Murder, and Child abuse
Minor: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Slavery, Torture, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Racism, and Stalking
evbyrd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Stalking
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