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christinereads1823'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Blood, Death, Violence, and Gore
pj99's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Classism and Violence
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content
For those of whom grief is a very touchy triggerbeatriks's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
I’ll have to wrap most of my review in spoilers. Without spoiling anything, this book comes with some surprises that I liked, the world building is still amazing. El’s narration can be really funny:
So I followed her back to the yurt and let Mum give me a bowl of vegetable soup that tasted like it had been made with real vegetables, which might not sound very exciting to you, but what do you know.
Overall, I had a 2 year break in between book 2 and 3, that probably didn’t help.
Good points:
The whole enclave-building principle is genius
I like the “you’re already dead” principle
Less satisfying points
The way things end in the well.
Graphic: Torture, Death, and Grief
Moderate: War
kelisabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Blood, Classism, Death, Drug use, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Homophobia, War, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders
blacksphinx'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
5.0
I was getting really frustrated with the first half of the book. At least three times, a character would say a couple of sentences and then El would explain a ton of inferred details to us for several pages. We had some important plot threads established, and pages were ticking by with no progress being made on them. El spent a lot of time not doing a damn thing, thinking for pages about how she didn't know what to do. There was a decent chunk spent on her wanting to accomplish something I thought was extremely stupid and didn't understand her motives - and then, at almost the 50% mark, the chess pieces were finally all on the board and the game began.
I kept saying to myself "there's no way she can solve [plot thread] in [pages left]" and then she DID over and over again until I had every answer I wanted. I actually want to go back and reread the prior two books knowing what I know now, because the reveals in this book were set up long before she started drafting it, there's just no way. It is a little bit of a spoiler to say this, so just skip over it, but watching El walk away from Omelas made me cry. In this present moment of multiple genocides and an ongoing, stubbornly-ignored pandemic, it hit me just right. "You got us all out for good, and they're trying to start a war over the bones. There's a better way. We know there's a better way. And you're trying to find it."
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Grief, Gore, Confinement, and Drug use
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Classism
Minor: Vomit, Child death, Pregnancy, and Homophobia
ivi_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The book explores themes such as balance, destiny, friendship and fairness
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Classism, Murder, Grief, and Medical trauma
illegalitch'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
5.0
Well paced, especially for an anti-hero story written in First Person. I read the first book itself and listened to the second two audiobooks because I couldn't wait to finish the story, I had to know what was next. The narrator was perfect! Naomi Novik definitely earned a spot on my Favorite Authors list with this series and I cannot wait to read more of their work.
Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, and Grief
Although the content may be upsetting for some, I feel it was presented well and not gratuitously.beccaand'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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and War
Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent
doahdancer'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, War, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
erikagibson126's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Child death, Body horror, Grief, War, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual content