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britwalsh16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I honestly don’t know what else to say without spoilers!! Just read it!!
Graphic: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, War, Classism, Slavery, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Infidelity, Torture, Rape, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Confinement
Minor: Genocide, Addiction, Child abuse, Vomit, and Alcohol
angelofthetardis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
While I think the author has done better relationship arcs, this is probably the first time that it's felt like an equal relationship from the get go, rather than the big powerful man teaching the gorgeous girl something to help her to become his equal. And their banter, understanding and ease around one another, plus their protectiveness of each other, is my favourite part of the book. If this book were focused on the development of their relationship, with other bits going on in the background, I could definitely get in board with it. However, as it is their relationship is just one element of an incredibly busy plot.
I had hoped that I'd have absorbed enough from the first book to be comfortable with the world and the characters going into book two. No, I'm not floundering and completely lost, but at the same time there are so many characters, species and sub-plots to keep straight, I ended up feeling a little overwhelmed with it, which tempered my enjoyment. I'm sure certain plot threads will be picked up again in future books, but at this stage there seems to be a lot of loose ends or even dead ends, again giving the feeling of about three books worth of plot being crammed into one. And yet the pace isn't that fast - it's not a slog to read, but you are fully aware of the heft of this tome as you are trying to get through it.
As always, you cannot fault the worldbuilding, and I admire the depth and breadth of the creativity of thought and detail that has gone into bringing life to Crescent City - again, I think this is the most considered scape Maas has created to date. However, I again come back to the sheer quantity of information the reader needs to be able to process.
Unfortunately I wasn't shocked by the Day/Night twist at all; to me, it was incredibly obvious straight away how that was going to turn out. The more interesting twist for me was Bryce's plans for Emile, but equally this felt like a rather clunky explanation; it can across like the author had forgotten to include a resolution to that particular aspect and so covered herself with a quickly invented 'secret plan reveal'. This sort of sums up the writing overall for me - it doesn't flow anywhere near as well as ACOTAR or TOG.
However, this is a prime example of why I don't generally mind spoilers - someone told me ages ago about what happens at the end of this book and so, even though this is my least favourite of SJM's series to date, I knew I had to get these read so that I can devour book 3 when it comes out! I am desperately hoping will give this series a huge boost in my estimations!
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Slavery
Minor: Vomit
howboutjane's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual content, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Vomit and Blood
Minor: Child abuse, War, Torture, and Sexual violence
ay_reads_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Bryce ended up in Prythian!!!!
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Blood, Torture, War, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Child death, Colonisation, and Misogyny
jcrawford31's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Vomit, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and War
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Slavery, and Panic attacks/disorders
elledanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Rape, Torture, Vomit, War, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Pregnancy
cady_sass's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5 stars. Can’t wait for the next one. SJM if you fumble this as hard as ACOSF I will never recover.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, War, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting
hapalyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Torture, Slavery, Rape, Genocide, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, War, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
clairew97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Colonisation, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Misogyny
katvou'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Torture, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Excrement, Drug use, Animal death, Torture, Slavery, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, and Vomit