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maryellen'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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Slavery
megsug's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Transphobia and Sexual violence
amburrella'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
Graphic: Gore and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and Kidnapping
celery'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: Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Transphobia, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal death, Slavery, Confinement, Death of parent, Vomit, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Torture, Classism, and Cursing
chrisb913'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
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, and Rape
yrc'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? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed the humor in this book greatly, the epic and larger than life adventures against both wicked men and sea monsters alike. I also felt that the swashbuckling tone was sourly needed as a scratch to my itch. Life can't be taken seriously every second of each day.
Amina is a wonderous character and actually goes through the hardships of being separated from family, limitations of age and biases towards women, which was a refreshing character arc often not seen enough in fantasy.
The rest of the crew was terrific as well, especially Dalila and Mahjed. The historical touches were fun to encounter and the narrators did a magnificent job with this text. 4 starts and recommended if you are looking for a fun book, that doesn't shy away from dark situations but does it with style and purpose.
Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, and Blood
julian7'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
4.0
I only have two complaints about the book. First, I wish we had gotten more of the side characters! I feel like there was so much focus on them in the first part of the story, when Amina was “getting the band back together,” only for them to disappear into the background once Raksh showed up. I enjoyed Raksh, don’t get me wrong, but I would have loved to learn more about the other characters, like Tinbu and Majed, who seemed so interesting.
My other complaint is that the first third of the book went by very slowly, and the last two thirds felt much more fast-paced and a little too busy. A medium pacing throughout the whole book would have felt more cohesive.
I’ll probably read the sequels, and I hope we get to learn more about the side characters and Raksh returns eventually. 🤭
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, and War
kristenreads'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
keelirae113'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: Colonisation, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Slavery, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Grief, Body horror, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Murder, Racism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Torture, Addiction, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
kiwij96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story was engaging, with good characters: flawed people each with a deep history which brings them to life and makes them immediately likeable, and their relationships to each other are realistic and don't feel forced. And the plot developed at a reasonable pace, nothing felt rushed or out of place for the most part.
At about 65-70% of the way in, I personally felt like the plot lost its way a bit and absolutely could have been handled differently to make the book at least 100 pages shorter, and to be a fantastic standalone.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Torture, and Genocide
Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Grief, Racism, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Sexism, and Islamophobia