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sohma4uesugi's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I had to force myself to finish this and I am exhausted. There is just so much without anything at the same time. The sentences are wordy and over the top in a way that is heavy and clunky. Instead of saying “she was shocked by his reply”, the text is that “she was aghast at the perversion of the transaction.” Just… why? Everything simple that should be easy and flows is so over the top that it falls flat beneath the weight of its self.
There is no immersion into this world. My eyes kept jumping forward begging it to be over with faster. I would reread sentences several times and still be confused in the next paragraph.
Interesting characters were largely ignored and the uninteresting characters were heavily focused on. The artwork, though beautiful, strangely did not match the characters each section was named for, which didn’t make sense to me.
It felt like whole chapters were missing and the ones that were there dragged on forever and a day. Anything interesting was just simply dropped the next page in infuriating regularity. The last two chapters of the book seemed like they were written for another work entirely, in that they were interesting and actually held my attention.
To go from talking in tiring detail about the complexities of stopping time to calling someone a useless fuckboi just because they could in the next sentence was jarring and not in a way to bring humor or relief from the vast complexities the text tried and failed to reach.
The concept was super cool and I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I did not.
There is no immersion into this world. My eyes kept jumping forward begging it to be over with faster. I would reread sentences several times and still be confused in the next paragraph.
Interesting characters were largely ignored and the uninteresting characters were heavily focused on. The artwork, though beautiful, strangely did not match the characters each section was named for, which didn’t make sense to me.
It felt like whole chapters were missing and the ones that were there dragged on forever and a day. Anything interesting was just simply dropped the next page in infuriating regularity. The last two chapters of the book seemed like they were written for another work entirely, in that they were interesting and actually held my attention.
To go from talking in tiring detail about the complexities of stopping time to calling someone a useless fuckboi just because they could in the next sentence was jarring and not in a way to bring humor or relief from the vast complexities the text tried and failed to reach.
The concept was super cool and I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I did not.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
randi_jo's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
I want to preface this review with the fact that I was really excited to read this because I saw some good hype, it's fantasy, and also people were talking up how gay it is, but my disappointment with it has no limits.
To start, the first 50 pages or so were good Spoiler(not good enough for an extra star though, I really am that upset) - the character introductions got me into it, but then it very, very rapidly began to stagnate and then go downhill fast.
Plot? In this book? Not as likely as you might think. About sixty percent of the book is just the characters fucking around and thinking about Spoilerthe fact that they have to kill someone instead of actually doing anything about it. Considering they're all so powerful; OP, even, I can't believe they literally just lay around until the very last second for the dues-ex-machina: SpoilerEzra, whose return was, if not predictable, unsurprising. Don't get me started on the idea of making him into a good guy for book 2 because that is 100% the set up; but also he's a massive asshole to Libby? Just because he "doesn't understand what she wants"? He's a walking red flag, jfc..
The book's setting is so vague it's frustrating. I only knew it was ~2010 at the end of the book because a character specifies what year he "teleported" to. But otherwise we're not really told how magical 'medeian' society works or even how magic works. I don't even understand how the characters are so strong compared to other magic users because there is no comparison nor explanation as to what made them extraordinary, simply that they were. Not that it really matters since none of the characters seem to have any kind of limits, including what magic they "specialize" in. Like a telepath reading the mind of a house? Ok... An Empath digging through and seeing memories? Sus... Everyone being able to summon bottles of whiskey? I'm so confused.
The writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. The descriptions were so poor I had no idea about where they were, what they were doing, hardly anything about what they looked like or acted like. There was an action scene and I very distinctly remember Nico picking up a man and aimed him at a group of intruders, and all the baddies ducked behind furniture. I am still wondering how he was aiming a man like a gun. :/
Otherwise it's filled with a lot of hypothetical questions and random jargon from poly-sci classes that have nothing to do with what's happening in the story. It's just there to make it look smart and it's very redundant. A lot of the "deep" tangents will literally say one thing in three different ways. It's annoying to read through.
Speaking of the characters. . . None of them were particularly likable, except maybe Tristan because he was literally the only one who had any modicum of growth. Nico and Parisa, in particular, are the worst. Why is Nico even a character? Literally his entire POV is focused on Gideon and Gideon's circumstances, even to the point were they talk about Gideon's penis rather than anything eventful. I don't know why Gideon himself just isn't one of the main characters instead. He's far more interesting, just give him a main character buff and to sort out his own shit.
And then there's Parisa, whose only schtick is that she's a whore. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, and I can see where the author was trying to go with it. But she literally has no other traits and even her "breaking" scene was underserviced and bland. What even happened to her? Idk I just know she has a brother and a jealous sister. But I guess my largest qualm is that her relationship with Dalton (and obliquely the "relationship" between Tristan and Libby) started with her initiating coercion sex. He very clearly says "no" (in far more words, but it's definitely a negative) and she continues because "I know you want to". Even if true, if Parisa's character had been male, people would be shouting 'rape' from the rooftops. Dubcon, posed as something sexy and with 'female empowerment' is not really my thing.
Also, I know nothing about Callum except that he's a suicide baiter. And for what? Twisted morals? The token morally gray character? IDEFK. We learn literally nothing about him. Ever. I think he exists only to wax poetic about morality, or the lack thereof, in humans. Most of what he says/thinks has nothing to do with anything ever.
I am also THIS close to labelling this book as queerbait, but the book itself doesn't really talk about it being super inclusive, but rather the fans, so I won't. But there is SO LITTLE lgbtq in this book, which is mostly Parisa being bi (barely; she literally says she doesn't like to date women because they get jealous of her, but she'll sleep with women to get what she wants (and when she DOES "sleep with" Libby and Tristan, she does what? kisses Libby's neck and then... idk. No one says what she does, the author instead focuses on and recalls only things that Libby and Tristan did together and forgets about Parisa, who might as well had never been there)); and then Tristan thinking he might "love" Callum, which I find to be utterly facetious and out of nowhere. Like they literally just sit at the same table and sometimes talk together. There is absolutely NO indication that there's any warmth in their relationship. Even Callum describes Tristan, at best, as interesting because he's such a pessimist.
Nico and Gideon maybe might be a thing, but that feels more like wishful thinking on my part because the rest of this book is blatantly heterosexual.
The book's ending, the chapter literally labeled "END", was decent. The chapter before that was like 20 pages of the entire book being summarized but from Ezra's POV, which was so difficult to read through. But Huzzah! We now know that the entire story's villain is Spoilera British man and I can't decide if it's a coincidence or if I'm really being served with allusions to New-Age Imperialism.
Do not recommend.
To start, the first 50 pages or so were good Spoiler(not good enough for an extra star though, I really am that upset) - the character introductions got me into it, but then it very, very rapidly began to stagnate and then go downhill fast.
Plot? In this book? Not as likely as you might think. About sixty percent of the book is just the characters fucking around and thinking about Spoilerthe fact that they have to kill someone instead of actually doing anything about it. Considering they're all so powerful; OP, even, I can't believe they literally just lay around until the very last second for the dues-ex-machina: SpoilerEzra, whose return was, if not predictable, unsurprising. Don't get me started on the idea of making him into a good guy for book 2 because that is 100% the set up; but also he's a massive asshole to Libby? Just because he "doesn't understand what she wants"? He's a walking red flag, jfc..
The book's setting is so vague it's frustrating. I only knew it was ~2010 at the end of the book because a character specifies what year he "teleported" to. But otherwise we're not really told how magical 'medeian' society works or even how magic works. I don't even understand how the characters are so strong compared to other magic users because there is no comparison nor explanation as to what made them extraordinary, simply that they were. Not that it really matters since none of the characters seem to have any kind of limits, including what magic they "specialize" in. Like a telepath reading the mind of a house? Ok... An Empath digging through and seeing memories? Sus... Everyone being able to summon bottles of whiskey? I'm so confused.
The writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. The descriptions were so poor I had no idea about where they were, what they were doing, hardly anything about what they looked like or acted like. There was an action scene and I very distinctly remember Nico picking up a man and aimed him at a group of intruders, and all the baddies ducked behind furniture. I am still wondering how he was aiming a man like a gun. :/
Otherwise it's filled with a lot of hypothetical questions and random jargon from poly-sci classes that have nothing to do with what's happening in the story. It's just there to make it look smart and it's very redundant. A lot of the "deep" tangents will literally say one thing in three different ways. It's annoying to read through.
Speaking of the characters. . . None of them were particularly likable, except maybe Tristan because he was literally the only one who had any modicum of growth. Nico and Parisa, in particular, are the worst. Why is Nico even a character? Literally his entire POV is focused on Gideon and Gideon's circumstances, even to the point were they talk about Gideon's penis rather than anything eventful. I don't know why Gideon himself just isn't one of the main characters instead. He's far more interesting, just give him a main character buff and to sort out his own shit.
And then there's Parisa, whose only schtick is that she's a whore. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, and I can see where the author was trying to go with it. But she literally has no other traits and even her "breaking" scene was underserviced and bland. What even happened to her? Idk I just know she has a brother and a jealous sister. But I guess my largest qualm is that her relationship with Dalton (and obliquely the "relationship" between Tristan and Libby) started with her initiating coercion sex. He very clearly says "no" (in far more words, but it's definitely a negative) and she continues because "I know you want to". Even if true, if Parisa's character had been male, people would be shouting 'rape' from the rooftops. Dubcon, posed as something sexy and with 'female empowerment' is not really my thing.
Also, I know nothing about Callum except that he's a suicide baiter. And for what? Twisted morals? The token morally gray character? IDEFK. We learn literally nothing about him. Ever. I think he exists only to wax poetic about morality, or the lack thereof, in humans. Most of what he says/thinks has nothing to do with anything ever.
I am also THIS close to labelling this book as queerbait, but the book itself doesn't really talk about it being super inclusive, but rather the fans, so I won't. But there is SO LITTLE lgbtq in this book, which is mostly Parisa being bi (barely; she literally says she doesn't like to date women because they get jealous of her, but she'll sleep with women to get what she wants (and when she DOES "sleep with" Libby and Tristan, she does what? kisses Libby's neck and then... idk. No one says what she does, the author instead focuses on and recalls only things that Libby and Tristan did together and forgets about Parisa, who might as well had never been there)); and then Tristan thinking he might "love" Callum, which I find to be utterly facetious and out of nowhere. Like they literally just sit at the same table and sometimes talk together. There is absolutely NO indication that there's any warmth in their relationship. Even Callum describes Tristan, at best, as interesting because he's such a pessimist.
Nico and Gideon maybe might be a thing, but that feels more like wishful thinking on my part because the rest of this book is blatantly heterosexual.
The book's ending, the chapter literally labeled "END", was decent. The chapter before that was like 20 pages of the entire book being summarized but from Ezra's POV, which was so difficult to read through. But Huzzah! We now know that the entire story's villain is Spoilera British man and I can't decide if it's a coincidence or if I'm really being served with allusions to New-Age Imperialism.
Do not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
educatorgams's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The world building here is amazing, I enjoy magical realism slotted quietly into a contemporary setting. The shifting point of view really helps to move the plot along while keeping you from sympathizing and identifying too strongly with any single character. Each of the six main characters has good and bad points and the story does a great job of exploring them as three dimensional individuals while maintaining the intrigue of a secret society and all the drama you would expect from the chance to join a secret organization guiding the world’s leaders.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
I read this book in two days. I'm still coming down from the high of finishing it, so I'm not sure if it was technically good, but I know I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are spectacularly interesting. Reina and Callum could use a bit a fleshing-out; but Libby, Nico, Parisa, and Tristan were amazing POVs. Libby was obviously meant to be the audience avatar, since she is the first POV, and it's no secret that most of the target audience is likely to be women of academic background and/or anxiety/ MI. There were definitely enough clues along the way where I saw the Ezra twist coming. I'm much more interested in the mystery of Dalton. Faults few and far between in my opinion include: lack of depth to Nico's character, plot relying heavily on the miscommunication trope (although there is some reason for it), and a bit of pseudointellectualism since I didn't buy into the sci-fi explanations and philosophical arguments.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
kayladaila's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Bullying, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Classism
kaytrain's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Emotional abuse
co2lreads's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
An excellent addition to the canon of dark academia. The characters were all interesting and flawed in their own ways and I loved the dynamics that developed. The mystery of the book was set up so well, so I was on the edge of my seat while figuring out what was going on. I'm a little too science deficient for the magic system, but even then it was still interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
omfgeleanor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Child death
psnchz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
schnaucl's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was really frustrated by this book. I'm frustrated by the fact that I care what happens next even though I didn't think it was very well written. There was a lot of telling rather than showing (several times a character would say something evasively instead of just having the character <i>be</i> evasive and trusting the reader to pick things up. The characters were either flat or extremely irritating. It was hard to tell if magic was something that was generally known about. I think the answer is yes, but the "mortals" and medians act like they're in two completely separate worlds. But something must have been done right if I care enough to read the next book, but maybe I'll get it from the library rather than purchasing it.
"Mortal" is a weird choice to describe those without magical ability since it suggests magic users are immortal, which I don't think they're supposed to be.
Nico and maybe Tristan are the only characters I cared about because they're the only characters who seem to actually care about someone else.
These characters are supposed to be from different countries and possibly different classes but they all read the same.
Nico and maybe Tristan are the only characters I cared about because they're the only characters who seem to actually care about someone else.
These characters are supposed to be from different countries and possibly different classes but they all read the same.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Incest