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antonique_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
meluhnie's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
queenie_ofthe_void's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism
Personally just hated thr ending. Left feeling unfulfilled. After two whole books and all this built up soul-mates and destiny, they only end up together *hypothetically* in the monologue. Why. WHY?! That is some bullshit. And fade to black... AFTER ALL OF THIS. no. Everything else was amazing. Malik and Karina are amazing.claragweny's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
netthauser's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
Moderate: Self harm and Torture
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The story picks up with Malik and Karina not long after the end of the first book, which I won't touch on too much in case of spoilers. What I can say is that this second installment in the duology is a great conclusion that not only ties up the pieces left open in the first installment but also builds upon the characters and world that we got to know in book 1. I think the strength of the series really hinges upon the characters themselves. The dual perspectives of Malik and Karina, allow the reader insight into different aspects of the story, both when they are together as well as when they are miles apart. In this installment, Brown pulls together story pieces that have been woven together in the first installment and expands upon them to bring the ultimate plot to a satisfying conclusion.
One of my favorite aspects of the story are the relationships. In this book, we get much more insight into Karina's relationship with her sister and we come to better understand their childhood. This was a great compliment to the relationship between Malik and Karina.
This series is another great example of the excellent duologies that have been coming out recently. The story fits well within the two books without a dragging middle installment. I am definitely looking forward to what Brown writes next.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
kaseybereading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Gaslighting
molliemoments's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- 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
Sometimes, I'm terribly inconsistent with my reviews and therefore, they are a jumbled up mess of random delayed emotions and pretty much just overall confusion.
I did not want the second example to be the case with my review for this book because I absolutely adored every moment of it. In fact, it took me approximately 6x longer to finish than I had originally anticipated because I wound up just wanting to take my time with it and really immerse myself in the story.
When I'm reading a book, I like to take pictures of the quotes or write them down somewhere so I don't forget them later. Most of the time, 1-3 quotes will stand out during the course of my reading. With A Psalm of Storms and Silence, I wound up writing down 10 quotes. I'm going to include them here, because I never ever want to lose them and forget the way they impacted me. If you don't like quotes, then skip ahead.
"Sometimes people get so unnerved by their own fear, they don't realize that their response to it is worse than what they feared in the first place."
"Love shouldn't look like control"
"If you ever find someone who feels as natural to you as breathing, don't leave them. Because if you do, you'll feel as if you're gasping for air every moment after."
"Life isn't given to be deserved. It's given to be lived. If you can find one thing that makes it worth seeing another day, then you've done all you're meant to do."
"There are choices you make in life that cannot be undone and that cannot be buried. They can only be carried, and you either buckle beneath the weight of them or grow strong enough not to. And growing is always worth it if it helps you get to that next thing that makes life worth living."
"...love was more like a pebble sinking into a pond, soft as the turn of one page in a story to the next, yet the ripples of it extending outward into everything about the way he saw the world and himself."
"...a person could never truly steal something that already belonged to them."
"You call me your salvation, but I can't save you from yourself."
(There were a few that just made me laugh and I'm including those as well because I think they're just as important as the ones that impacted my heart and soul):
"'Three times I've saved your ass now, princess!' Dedele barked as they hauled themselves over the sand barge's railing. 'Luckily for you, it's quite the ass to save!' Karina screamed back."
Friends, if you have the ability to read this book, please do. Some people might cringe away from the trigger warnings and that's completely understandable. But if you can tolerate them, I highly recommend this book. I didn't think anything could pass A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, but this blew it out of the water.
One of the things that stood out to me the very most was the conversation surrounding Malik's struggle with self-harm and depression. Towards the end, he basically told someone that it was something he dealt with but that it might never go away. I appreciated that so much because often, in works of fiction, these are looked at as things that can "just be conquered and forgotten" in a sense, but that's not what happened here. It was an acknowledgement that those who trudge through depression and fight themselves in regards to self-harm might have lifelong battles and that is 100% normal and valid.
Then, of course, there's Farid and his horrible, toxic gaslighting nonsense that made me want to literally scream with fury and throw the book sometimes (but I was reading it on my phone and I didn't wanna break my phone - you know how it is). Watching both Karina and Hanane work through that - recognizing it and then individually sorting through it in different ways - was phenomenally done.
I absolutely loved the ending. Some people might get mad at it, but I think it was written perfectly. I love that it gave me a chance to run wild with my imagination.
I just can't praise this book any higher. In fact, this might be my longest review of all time. But I just... have more emotions about it than I even know what to do with right now. This one is gonna stick with me. I just know it.
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Racial slurs and Grief
yvonne_cl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Alcohol