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straybutterfly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, and Classism
crinkledmochi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Gothic, mystical, yet darkly cozy.
the romance was cute but definitely needed more fleshing out as everything happened within the span of a couple weeks.
the worldbuilding! yes ma’am, I hope that in the next book the world kinda opens up a bit more but with the way this book ended I don’t think we’re going very far.
Graphic: Classism, Bullying, Sexual content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Vomit
laurenelisewrites'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Bullying, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Child death
scarlett_f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Body horror, Confinement, Violence, and Bullying
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Grief, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug use and Domestic abuse
marippe's review against another edition
4.25
I did like the first half more than the second.
Elspeth and Ravyn's relationship moved a little too quickly for me, it was a lil surface level. I liked all the characters and their relationships, if it digged a little bit deeper into the layers of these characters it could've been really nice.
Elm I found particularly fun
I'm excited for the next book!
Graphic: War, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
reallyrosalie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Torture
cecilie26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It’s been quite a long time since I found a book, that makes me forget the world around me. This one did!
The characters, the plot everything just made sense. Even though the love interest didn’t get that much time to get to know each other before falling in love, I think it’s okay in this one. Even though I would be more than happy to have it made more time to show that they got to know each other and see when they clicked.
Though I’m not against spice, but I didn’t quite see the need for it in this book. Or see the need for it to be described.
Otherwise that small detail I really loved it. The author made you hate the characters you should hate and love the characters you should love really easily.
Loved that the character was smart and thought ahead and who to trust.
I couldn’t recommend this enough.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
coffeekitaab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A well thought of, clever premise that's beautifully written. I was consumed by this fantasy world, by the story of Elspeth who struggles with a dark magic that resides in her mind, but which also protects her from danger - and Ravyn, who is Captain of the guard which arrests and punishes people just like Elspeth..only Rayvn keeps Elspeth safe because he needs her magic to save his brother. With this fear around magic there are lots of secrets in the book and you have your heart in your throat most of the time but it is power packed. There is so much going in the background with the history of the King, how the magic came to exist and the usurper who now abuses it, but the writing makes this really easy to follow.
This is a book which has heart and soul, lovable characters (and not so lovable) and actually makes you feel smarter once you've finished reading. I devoured it within the space of a few days (just so that I could join a buddy read for the 2nd book which starts today, but I made it!). 75% in there was a little too much repetition for my liking but I'd highly recommend this - a favourite read this year definitely.
Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Grief, Mental illness, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
saeriiss'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? Yes
3.5
The magic system is quite cool, although not original, it's different from what we are used to see and the way the author incorporates it into the world is very refreshing. I loved the characters, Elspeth and the Yews (including Elm) were well built during the story and I was able to connect easily with them, the only problem is that, despite the enemies-to-lovers trope between the main couple, it feels like there is no character development, but I think that's a consequence of another issue in this book.
If I'm being honest, this book feels like it's actually the first half of a story that has been dragged out. It's not until 40% in that the plot starts to develop a bit and the final 30% is extremely rushed because we spent the rest of it doing barely anything. You're probably thinking "maybe it's just a character-driven story", and yes, you might see it that way, but then there should've been much more development of the main characters' arc and journey, we should've seen them in way more depth than we were able to.
Final thoughts: if you're looking for an easy read, with very cool characters, a seductive male lead, dark magic, a royal family full of secrets, and kind of a plot going on in the background, I highly recommend this!
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
lindyhopper's review against another edition
Minor: Injury/Injury detail