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keybooker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Rape, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
saintmaud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
Graphic: Rape, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
rideauriverreads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, War, Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Antisemitism
heartfelthullabaloo's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
William was the WORST bad guy! I absolutely loathed him and I cannot believe how much he got away with, it was OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!! So, kudos to the author for writing someone to root against.
The politics of the Catholic Church! The things that they sanctioned is sickening and infuriating. Trying to play a giant chess game to rise to power and using God as a tool to justify your actions is awful. I can’t imagine why anyone is still catholic to this day. Sure, they’re not all like that and they did some good and helped some people but man, the corruption is hard to look past.
The actual story itself, was great. Will I read the next one? Sure will because we’re about to go on a plague kick and I’ve heard that’s coming up next.
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death, Murder, and Sexual violence
aether_seawo1f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War
dielilla's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, Cursing, Infertility, and Vomit
christina_chen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse
cheazcakeguy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I only finished this because I read it for a book club. Way too much unnecessarily explicit SA & pedophilia (just because it's "historically accurate" does not mean I want to read full details of a 14-year-old being r*ped by someone twice her age), characters were mostly one dimensional and often more like caricatures, and the pacing was uneven. The plot and the character Philip were the only things keeping me going, as it is ultimately a good story. The descriptions of the cathedral and the building process were also great. However, all of the tension and story beats ended up feeling super repetitive and recycled, and for the last couple hundred pages I was rolling my eyes at the dramatic twists and turns which felt contrived and meaningless at that point. I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it was unremarkable. Hard to recommend, unless you like to read soap operas with one-note characters and you're okay with repeated graphic SA. I suppose if you *really* like drama and architecture, and have extreme patience, this is the book for you.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: War and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, and War
breadwitchery's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Violence, and Rape
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Pedophilia, and War
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Confinement, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
sonygaystation's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual harassment, War, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Classism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Torture
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Rape, and Antisemitism