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marissamrkt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury
delandjessica's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.0
I both loved and didn't love this book. I loved the idea of having this character, Kiva, be the healer in this horrible prison and the focus on her doing her best to take care of the other prisoners. I especially liked the detective element as she's trying to figure out where a mystery illness is coming from. But I didn't feel like the main element of the plot, the Trial by Ordeal, was really even necessary. Not once did Kiva manage to accomplish anything in the trials on her own, being saved by others every single time, and it honestly just felt super gimmicky anyway, used as a flashy lure in the book blurb to get readers to pick up the book. It makes no sense that a prison would go through the effort of putting on such a pointless and time wasting performance just to kill a prisoner, since that's the whole point of the trials is for the person to die spectacularly, especially when there's already the Abyss where problematic prisoners are sent to but never return from. It all just smelled like plot convenience to me and could have easily been written out of the book, which would have made both the plot and Kiva's character stronger.
I also had a huge problem with Jaren. He starts hitting on Kiva from the moment he sees her, continues to pursue her romantically and touches her constantly despite her repeatedly telling him to stop, and he has no real personality other than being attractive and good. I'm not sure how that's supposed to be interpreted as being romantic. I also struggled with Tipp. His character was sweet, but though I appreciate that the author wanted to introduce more character diversity, Tipp's extreme stutter really slows down the reading experience. The author could have reduced the stutter by at least two thirds per dialogue exchange and it would have conveyed the same idea without making it so difficult to get through. The stutter also didn't add anything to Tipp's character that wasn't already there, so I would have liked to see the author either give a purpose for the stutter or remove it entirely.
However, despite all the overexplanation and insufficient description and Kiva's wishy-washy grasp of who she herself even is (she's always saying that she never or always does things and has for the last ten years, but then turns around and is doing or not doing them anyway), I absolutely loved the whole ending and the twist at the very end. It was unexpected but suddenly made the entire book make so much more sense in hindsight. Twist endings are so difficult to pull off, but this one was handled perfectly and I'm eager to see what happens with Kiva next.
I also had a huge problem with Jaren. He starts hitting on Kiva from the moment he sees her, continues to pursue her romantically and touches her constantly despite her repeatedly telling him to stop, and he has no real personality other than being attractive and good. I'm not sure how that's supposed to be interpreted as being romantic. I also struggled with Tipp. His character was sweet, but though I appreciate that the author wanted to introduce more character diversity, Tipp's extreme stutter really slows down the reading experience. The author could have reduced the stutter by at least two thirds per dialogue exchange and it would have conveyed the same idea without making it so difficult to get through. The stutter also didn't add anything to Tipp's character that wasn't already there, so I would have liked to see the author either give a purpose for the stutter or remove it entirely.
However, despite all the overexplanation and insufficient description and Kiva's wishy-washy grasp of who she herself even is (she's always saying that she never or always does things and has for the last ten years, but then turns around and is doing or not doing them anyway), I absolutely loved the whole ending and the twist at the very end. It was unexpected but suddenly made the entire book make so much more sense in hindsight. Twist endings are so difficult to pull off, but this one was handled perfectly and I'm eager to see what happens with Kiva next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Gore, Blood, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Child death, Vomit, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Romance is present, but doesn't get physical.thetalesofabookishmom's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Ok, so when I started reading this book I immediately liked it. I was only 10% in and worried it would be over hyped but I was enjoying it regardless. Now having finished it I can say it was not overhyped. Did I guess all the major plot twists from the very beginning? Yes. Did I still really enjoy it despite having guessed all the major plot twists? Also, yes. Which is a talent because usually I hate books that seem predictable. But this one kept you waiting to find out if you were right until the very end.
This book has a plot but it is definitely character driven. I loved these characters. I love the main four so much! I am excited to see what happens next! Hopefully I’ll love it and will be more surprised by the plot. at least give me more Tipp!
Onto book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Self harm, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Confinement, and Terminal illness
tkatt20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A warning for anyone looking to read this: this is a very trigger heavy book, if there are sensitive topics that you need to avoid i would probably avoid this one since pertty much everything is brought up at least once. Please check content warnings before reading.
Im kind of lost on what I feel about this book. It was good, but I tend to be a detective when reading, so I was searching for every plot twist and I solved 90% of this book within the first 50 or so pages. That didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book, it just made it seem very slow paced for me when I usually like quicker fantasy novels. The premise and the storyline was very interesting, I lost a little on the world building, but considering the entire book is set in a prison that the MC arrived at when she was 7, it kind of makes sense. The characters were interesting enough to hold my attention, and for being only 17, the MC was very mature and resourceful. I would have loved to see more of the side characters and some of the little details of the Prison more fleshed out but it was alright. Everything was mostly saved by the ending in my opinion.
If you're the type of person who doesn't search for plot twists and just wants a fun and quick read then this would be perfect for you. This checks off all the boxes of a basic YA fantasy and it was definitely worth the time. The ending was amazing and I hope the next one does more in terms of world building.
Im kind of lost on what I feel about this book. It was good, but I tend to be a detective when reading, so I was searching for every plot twist and I solved 90% of this book within the first 50 or so pages. That didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book, it just made it seem very slow paced for me when I usually like quicker fantasy novels. The premise and the storyline was very interesting, I lost a little on the world building, but considering the entire book is set in a prison that the MC arrived at when she was 7, it kind of makes sense. The characters were interesting enough to hold my attention, and for being only 17, the MC was very mature and resourceful. I would have loved to see more of the side characters and some of the little details of the Prison more fleshed out but it was alright. Everything was mostly saved by the ending in my opinion.
If you're the type of person who doesn't search for plot twists and just wants a fun and quick read then this would be perfect for you. This checks off all the boxes of a basic YA fantasy and it was definitely worth the time. The ending was amazing and I hope the next one does more in terms of world building.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Mental illness, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Medical content, Physical abuse, Vomit, Chronic illness, and Addiction
Minor: Sexism, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Bullying, and Child death
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