Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Citadel

This was a very very tense read and an emotional one. I'm not sure how to handle that the next book is not under contract yet.

WORLD BUILDING: The ecosystem and the challenges, that it poses for the city are really interesting. The city structure are effective, but not new. There are some serious math problems with the worldbuilding. I did really enjoy the exploration of religion used as means of Control

Review: I really enjoyed the way, this was paced! It was so tense at times, while also having slower move contemplory Rasages. The interlocking multi POUs really helped the pacing.

This had a lot in common with the PERN books:

Telepathy, sentient known creatures, low tech, no surplus, Power dynamics.

There was a moment when I thought we might get a rape scene, but luckily the narrative stored completely clear of sexual violence.

I'm grumpy that there is no release date for book 2 yet

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turrean's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

Readers will find fascinating characters and complex world-building here. The three point-of-view characters in particular provide widely differing views of the society’s religious, social, and political structures. The patriarchy, religious bigotry, ableism, and sexism all suck in this world, too: even characters who want to help one another are burdened by layers upon layers of social pressure, as well as the very real threat of punishment or even death.

The parallels between Olivia’s struggles to be heard and human/chimera communication are not subtle, but are no less poignant for being obvious. Her experiences as a nonverbal autistic person give her a unique perspective on the task of breaking down barriers between warring groups who have no way to even begin a negotiation without a way to speak to one another.

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iseefirede's review

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adventurous hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this book from the first chapter. I finished it within 2 days. The fact that the main character is ND is fantastic. There was character growth and there wasn't a lot of long-drawn-out world building that I noticed. And just flying wolves with

telepathy and telekinesis

*chef's kiss*

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redheadsuperpowers's review

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adventurous 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

This is a debut novel from an author I found via a Tiktok someone sent me. I actually started with her Blackwing novella series and quickly fell in love with her writing style. I managed to consume this book in about 3 1/2 hours, and loved every minute of it.

I was deeply appreciative of the writing style in this novel, making it feel very natural when I read. The non-verbal main character was written with sensitivity, and depth. A cast amount of diversity was offered among the cast, and all the relationships were very well thought out and felt so real. The world building was woven throughout the entire novel, and didn't feel like stage directions like so many novels do. I love the depth of description we get of the setting, and I could clearly imagine what the flooded forest looked like, and how crowded Citadel itself must be. We see a lot of connections between the cast, but I appreciate that it doesn't veer into romance, leaving us to walk Olivia's grief with her. As a prolific reader, I will be recommending this to people.

Olivia is a non-verbal autistic teen who just lost her boyfriend, Elias, on a hunt against the demons that keep their people confined to the Citadel. They have been fighting these demons for generations and slowly outgrowing their walls, as food shortages abound. They also follow a very strict religion that has no space for doubt, and regularly culls heretics for questioning the teachings. Olivia just wants to know why. Why did the demons kill Elias? Why do they attack humans on site? Why do they keep them from leaving the Citadel? So she sneaks away and enters the forest alone, and finds out more than she bargained for.

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