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chamaeleontis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The one nit-picky thing was a plot point I personally didn't like, which is why it's 4.75, rather than 5.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy but is sick of repetitive plots. There's a few common tropes, but they are well done, with unique takes. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexual violence, Drug use, Terminal illness, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Blood, Ableism, Misogyny, Slavery, Medical content, and Sexism
siannas_second_library's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty and War
corabookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
- didn’t require much thought or mind energy to read
- plot was interesting enough
- characters and romance was eh, didn’t feel super connected to them but reading it wasn’t torture
- VERY predictable plot twists
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual content, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Torture, Rape, Drug use, Death, Blood, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide
maregred'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
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Violence
nirellis's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Self harm
emmyb's review against another edition
3.0
The story quickly sucked me in and was very engaging throughout the first 100 or so pages, but I started to get bored and speed read the second half of this book. If the trials aspect of this book appealed to you most, prepare to be disappointed. They were extremely anticlimactic, required no actual effort or skill from Kiva, and she only survived them because one person directly helped her all four times (I'd hardly call this a spoiler--it's the first book in a series, the main character was always going to make it out alive).
The four trials were incredibly lackluster:
trial 2: survive for 10 minutes without burning alive inside a crematorium. The princess gives her a magical necklace that keeps her from burning.
trial 3: tied to the bottom of a water pit for 15 minutes. surprise! Jaren has magic and saves her.
trial 4: escape a tunnel maze. Jaren gets thrown in with her as punishment and uses his magic to literally just show them the path out.
A lot of this book felt very flimsy. Even though life in the prison is harsh for the prisoners, they have a LOT of freedom--they're allowed to roam around the grounds however they please, are never subjected to pat-downs or security searches of any kind. There were never many guards around, and when they were present, the inmates weren't handcuffed or bound in any way. It also felt way too convenient that this infamous traitor queen was so casually placed in the infirmary with only a few healers and one guard at a time on watch. With her importance and high number of enemies she's said to have, why didn't anyone try to break in and harm her? Kiva was also always conveniently saved or favored by powerful people without much reason.
With all this being said, the reveals at the ending shocked me, and the cliffhanger was good enough to make me interested in giving book 2 a try.
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Rape, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death
hannahlois'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, and Child death
teri_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Loved the beginning and the introduction into the world, then I felt, the story got a little bit of a lull until it picked up pace towards the end again.
Loved the main character and her storyline through the book.
Some twists I did see coming, others not at all.
Star rating during reading was anything between 3 and 5, in the end I settle for a 3.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Racism, and Toxic relationship
maimy_ii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Cursing, and Confinement
Minor: Self harm, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Drug use
jolovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence