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wildatheart1339's review
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and War
akirokis's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: War
anniereads221's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Gore, Sexual content, Medical content, Death, and Violence
mallorypen'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
The concept of the Assassins guild isn’t new, nor is the the idea of controlling the members. But the blood magic, the “father and children” element, granting boons of freedom just to send your next child assassin to clean up loose ends, and the casual cruelty of calling them Hounds in a Kennel … I was totally bought in.
I also expected Julian to be an asshole with the way he was initially described, and I adored the twist to make him his brother’s champion. His self doubt about inheriting his father’s magic and not wanting to turn into him felt a little weak, but overall Julian delighted me.
Whisper was such a great character - frank about his own shortcomings, distracted by giant cats, trying to protect people even when he shouldn’t have any empathy left. His dynamic with Julian was very hot, and easy to fall in love with.
I think my favorite thing about this book was the world building. The casual mentions of creatures like dragons, wyrms and fell cats place the story into a fantasy setting without trying too hard with lengthy, ungainly backstory and exposition. The rivalries between the three countries and political machinations were complex while still being laid out in an easy-to-follow manner. I loved the two queens, and that they got children by way of a biological father without giving him a right to the offspring; that dynamic was explained well and also grounded the character behaviors without needing to use dozens of pages to ascribe importance or motivations.
When
That said, this was an enjoyable and highly entertaining read! The narrators were both wonderful and embodied their characters well.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, and Murder
prettynerdy3's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence