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hckilgour's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
This book was just not for me. I didn’t fall head over heels for any of the characters nor did I even connect with them. The word building is there yet I still found it kind of lacking.
The romance between Fie and Tavin was so out of the blue it felt ridiculous. The entire plot is them on the run. And it just got so monotonous that it was pulling teeth to finish.
I didn’t particularly find Fie to be likable. Or any character for that matter.
The only good thing about this book was how institutional racism is depicted and why it’s such a bad thing.
The romance between Fie and Tavin was so out of the blue it felt ridiculous. The entire plot is them on the run. And it just got so monotonous that it was pulling teeth to finish.
I didn’t particularly find Fie to be likable. Or any character for that matter.
The only good thing about this book was how institutional racism is depicted and why it’s such a bad thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
guardianofthebookshelf's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Vomit
sometimescjreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Classism, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
jerkysnax's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Violence, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail
zimmerlemon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Really got going from part 2 onwards. The world building took a sec for me to get a hang of but it was genuinely pretty unique which was a nice change of pace lol. I appreciate the setup for a sequel without a devastating cliffhanger. Characters won me over well enough to keep going but mostly for the tropes more so than the actual characters. Some of the oppression/racism metaphor(? Not sure what to call it) was a little heavy handed but I can’t be mad about it when it’s well intentioned and correct. Definitely curious to see what the sequel will have to offer!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Hate crime and Racism
gay_agenda_lizard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
aneverbird's review against another edition
CW for extremist nationalist organizations sorry but a white person writing about a Black MC in a world where there's an obvious 3 kay allegory is not it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, and Xenophobia
egurgens's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A wonderful mix of magic, political plots, a persecuted community, LGBTQ+ characters, a runaway prince, and so much more. This story definitely follows the 'enemies-to-lovers' trope, but less severe. More of a 'dislike-to-lovers'. We follow Fie, a Crow chief-in-training, as her troupe of crows collect and dispose of dead plague victims. However, Fie gets the scare of a lifetime when the corpses sit up, the royal prince and his body-double having faked their deaths to escape from the queen who wants them dead. The crows agree to make sure they reach their allies safely, as long as the prince agrees to make sure future crows are protected from persecution in the future.
When thinking of the crows and how they are treated, I think of pre-Civil Rights America. The crows are openly disliked and mistreated by villagers, the Hawks (think police) attack and treat them roughly for existing, and there is a band of citizens that attack Crow troupes at night, similar to how I imagine the KKK did. Disclaimer: I'm just using it as an analogy to describe the conditions the Crows faced, not comparing the two situations in any way.
When the Crows and the two lordlings are betrayed, only Fie and the two lordlings manage to escape capture by the Queen's people. Fie takes up responsibility to get Prince Jasimer to the Commander of their army, his Aunt. What follows is a journey across the continent, chased by magical trackers and mystery monsters. The lordlings get to know the trials that the Crow people face, and Fie gets to know the boys and how they bear their responsibilities. There's a little romancing, some feelings, very nice.
All in all, I loved this book, and I'm excited to read the sequel.
When thinking of the crows and how they are treated, I think of pre-Civil Rights America. The crows are openly disliked and mistreated by villagers, the Hawks (think police) attack and treat them roughly for existing, and there is a band of citizens that attack Crow troupes at night, similar to how I imagine the KKK did. Disclaimer: I'm just using it as an analogy to describe the conditions the Crows faced, not comparing the two situations in any way.
When the Crows and the two lordlings are betrayed, only Fie and the two lordlings manage to escape capture by the Queen's people. Fie takes up responsibility to get Prince Jasimer to the Commander of their army, his Aunt. What follows is a journey across the continent, chased by magical trackers and mystery monsters. The lordlings get to know the trials that the Crow people face, and Fie gets to know the boys and how they bear their responsibilities. There's a little romancing, some feelings, very nice.
All in all, I loved this book, and I'm excited to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, and Torture
barry_benson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
All I can say is that this is not, in anyway, light reading. This book deals with a lot of racism and misogyny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Sexism
dariusmortee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
I had a hard time starting this book. I couldn’t really get into it that easy, but when I did fall into the story it was an amazing ride.
I am personally a non native reader and that was why I had trouble starting this book. The words and sentence building used weren’t familiar to me, which made it harder to understand what was written. I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who just started reading in English as a non native speaker.
Besides that, this book has a lot of diversity, fun characters and a good plot!
So far I noticed pansexual representation, possible gay representation, non binary representation and many different skin tones.
I can understand however if people would find this book to be triggering due to a lot of death and racism/discrimination.
I am personally a non native reader and that was why I had trouble starting this book. The words and sentence building used weren’t familiar to me, which made it harder to understand what was written. I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who just started reading in English as a non native speaker.
Besides that, this book has a lot of diversity, fun characters and a good plot!
So far I noticed pansexual representation, possible gay representation, non binary representation and many different skin tones.
I can understand however if people would find this book to be triggering due to a lot of death and racism/discrimination.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Animal cruelty