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kylieqrada's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Read for Beautifully Bookish Bethany's Tordotcomathon 2022
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
adoto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Xenophobia, Death, Gore, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
The book itself is not xenophobic, but there are clear real-world xenophobic parallels that I feel are worth mentioning, especially if you are South Asian or Middle-Eastern (I'm Indian myself). The book's treatment of these characters and these issues is absolutely fine. I had no problems reading it; just putting it out there in case someone might. The blood and gore mentions are very brief, contained within a few sentences, but occur multiple times during the book and are described graphically. Blood/gore invoke physical reactions in me and I was definitely affected by those parts in this book so be warned!cemeterygay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yang managed to build a very intriguing world that is very different from the fantasy worlds we typically see in a lot of mainstream fantasy. I love the way Yang explores and integrates gender into the world and how they manage to blend so many different cultural elements together seamlessly. I just wish we had more time to explore the magic system and to learn way more about the training.
I did really enjoy Mokoya and Akeha's relationship as siblings, I just wish we got more time between the two of them, especially with Mokoya. I do think the author does an amazing job at quickly establishing the personalities of each character, even though not all of the established characters are that multi-dimensional. What other characters lack though Akeha, especially, and Mokoya more than make up for.
I think my biggest problem was that I just wanted more of the book. While I do believe that Yang did an amazing job with the space they had, I just wish the time jumps weren't as sudden or extreme.
Beyond that I absolutely adored this book and would absolutely recommend it.
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Gore, and War
unknight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Child death
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
catsy2022's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Minor: Child death and Child abuse
bi_blue'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? No
4.5
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Gore, and Murder
foreverinastory'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
4.5
In this dystopian fantasy world, the Protector rules the land. When she makes a deal with the Grand Monastery, she ends up giving them her twins. At the age of 6, Mokoya and Akeha are sent to live and train with the monks. In the monastery the twins develop different gifts: Mokoya gets visions of the future and Akeha can see strings that move people to action. Years later they are sent back to their mother and the two become aware of unrest in the Protectorate.
This silkpunk world was so freaking cool. I loved the magic system, but my favorite thing was the way gender worked. All children are assigned gender neutral pronouns (they) at birth. As the kids age, once they're old enough they choose their gender. While our twins do eventually pick genders, i wondered if there were any characters who chose to stay nonbinary.
I loved the bond between Mokoya and Akeha, seeing them grow apart after they left the monastery made me so sad! The ending was pretty wild and I really am excited to see where this will go. Both twins have very clearly sided with the rebellion and I do love a good rebellion story. There is a bit of romance in this for each twin, and I enjoyed it while it also broke my heart a little!
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship
achingallover's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Genocide, Racism, and Violence