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coraldan12's review
4.0
3.8 rounded up to a 4 - A little too fanfictiony for my personal taste, but I did enjoy it
beans_reads111's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rayneelee's review
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Interesting concept- poor execution. The characterizations of the two main lead felt inconsistent and all over the place. The dialogue felt too modern and conflicted with the setting, which was underdeveloped and confusing. The main plot doesn’t really start until around 70% of the way through the book. Way too much telling instead of showing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
grownmoss's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
i just can’t stop thinking about those sad little gay men
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent
andrewthegriffin's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
django018's review
dark
emotional
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
madzsmiled's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really loved the concept - Ilya and Danya had beautiful chemistry, built upon genuine affection. It was compelling and begs for a sequel. However, sometimes it felt repetitive and overly "tell" instead of "show" - focusing more on internal monologues than external motivations. Regardless, it's a beautiful love story with some divine violence and retribution.
babybasil's review
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this book a lot, but there were some things that bothered me. The beginning dragged slightly, but I did love the slow burn aspect of it. I get that this is the first book and it’s building a plot for a series, but it very much lacked from a motivation. It was a romance story with no end goal until the last hundred pages or so. Some of the dialogue annoyed me, though. This is 1920s Russia, but they’re using modern slang? Made very little sense. Still, over all, I still liked the story and would recommend it.
laraloops's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The cover is beautiful. To keep this review kind (as this is a smaller, queer production) I will just say the book was not quite my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
vegeterrain's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25