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amy_in_the_city'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
4.75
Graphic: Gore, War, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content and Stalking
vidotson'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
4.0
Moderate: War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
annabananadel'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? No
4.75
“I think we all wear armor. I think those who don’t are fools, risking the pain of being wounded by the sharp edges of the world, over and over again. But if I’ve learned anything from those fools, it is that to be vulnerable is a strength most of us fear. It takes courage to let down your armor, to welcome people to see you as you are. Sometimes I feel the same as you: I can’t risk having people behold me as I truly am. But there’s also a small voice in the back of my mind, a voice that tells me, “You will miss so much by being so guarded.”
This is worth the hype for sure. I can see why people kept picking this book up and recommending it because it really is an amazing story. It's been awhile since I read a YA romance fantasy and even though I usually steer clear from YAs, I've been brought in by the book community to try this book. I wasn't disappoint. Although it was slow at first - duh! It's world building so it not unusual, but I would have loved for the world to be built more. I did not really have the backstory of the world and how it came to be. I think that's what made me slow in the beginning but once I've hit a quarter of the story, it was just smooth sailing from there. I was just immediately hooked.
I love the war setting where this couple should conquer war for their love or something in that sense. I love the banters and I really wish there was more of it. I love the typewriter form of communication and how these two just write the loveliest letters to each other. It makes a lot of sense why they wouldn't fall for each other. The side characters and their stories as well was a good addition to the book. I really do love the story and was just devastated for the last quarter of the book where I just need to know what happened to the main characters. I wish the twist at the end had been made a little bit more sense but that's just me, I guess. I was heart broken for that last 50 pages and I'm so glad I bought the next book last weekend.
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, and Blood
Minor: Vomit
charli03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gun violence
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Moderate: Death, Grief, Sexual content, Child death, War, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
sarahsaurusrex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Medical trauma, War, Blood, and Violence
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cursing and Violence
torij2000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: War, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
jkneebone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eventually, Iris decides to take the search for her brother into her own hands, and takes a job as a war correspondent for a rival paper. She travels to the war front and sees firsthand the toll the war is taking as she helps care for wounded soldiers. She becomes close with Marisol, who runs the B&B correspondents stay at, as well as Attie, a fellow war correspondent. But the dynamic shifts again when a familiar figure from her past arrives as the newest correspondent.
I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about this book, especially the ending, but I'm also definitely planning to read the sequel. I was really enjoying it up until about 60% of the way through, but the second half lost me a bit. I really liked when Iris and Roman were getting to know each other via letters, as well as the mythology about the gods and worldbuilding that we got through their writing. Iris was an interesting character, and I really felt for her as she was trying to do her best without her brother when so many circumstances were conspiring against her. I also liked the glimpse we got of Roman's life and how he is torn between his own desires and guilty obligation to his family.
However in the second half, I felt that the romance plot became too dominant, and a lot of the things I had found interesting fell by the wayside. I didn't dislike the idea of Iris and Roman as a couple, but the romance became so gendered
This would have been more stars for me if it had leaned a little more on the mythology and worldbuilding - because it's a fascinating premise! - and a little less on the highly gendered romance. That being said, it was well written and had enough of interest that I'm willing to keep reading. There is a lot of violence and death, by virtue of it taking place during a war, as well as some minor cursing and one very mild but technically on-the-page sex scene (no explicit language is used but you can tell what's happening).
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, War, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
jooniethemoonie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
a lot of descriptions of war and injured (and dead/dying) soldiers, bodies lying around (stepping over them), quite graphic.