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ladygetslit'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
The strength of this book lies in the world itself and the complexity of the characters. In the Shadow and Bone books, Zoya is… kind of a b****, but here we see that it’s her coping mechanism for all the nasty stuff she’s been through. Nina’s dealing with her grief
Where the book falls short for me is in the pacing. Even though I was invested in the characters, the pacing in the beginning felt too slow, and I wasn’t able to feel intrigued until about 1/3 of the way into the book. Perhaps this is just the nature of a story that relies a lot on political intrigue, which requires a lot of exposition. That being said, the payoff was well worth waiting to get really into this. I read the last 2/3 of the book in 3 days because I could hardly put it down! Overall, this is one of the best books in the Grishaverse and I would read anything Leigh Bardugo writes at this point.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Ableism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Genocide, Suicide, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail
laurenandradee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book has a slow start (similar to shadow and bone and six of crows) since this is multiple POV book and not only that but there are also multiple plots
The slow build ends up being really nice since you really get an understanding of the plot and each of the characters are well fleshed out for me.
Overall I just love Leigh Bardugo's imagery, the horrible horrible things that happens within this book
Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the grishaverse and who doesn't love a whole books worth of Nikolai-wit.
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Addiction, Death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Slavery, and Pregnancy
Minor: Violence, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail
seforana'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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
koiolee'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
Spoilers
My opinion on characters
Nikolai: i really like him as a king. Also live how he keeps his wits around him like a protective slime layer.
Zoya: i think my favorite character with so much depth. I loved learning more and more about her.
Nina: probably the character i relate to the most. Her chapters were hard for me to read because i imagine my own partner and that loss as my own. I was mad after crooked kingdom when she didn't lose her cool over her loss (literally my only critique was that she didnt go absolutely feral), but after reading this, i understand it so much more.... but i still think she should've gone feral. Or as feral as she could during recovery.
Graphic: Grief and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, and Addiction
Minor: Confinement
alyssadavis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
“Zoya of the lost city. Zoya of the garden. Zoya bleeding in the snow. You are strong enough to survive the fall.”
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, War, Abandonment, Violence, Child abuse, Death, and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Rape
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Violence, War, Sexism, and Drug abuse
aliyachaudhry'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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Trafficking
Minor: Vomit and Xenophobia
onefineelephant'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: Gaslighting, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Child death, Rape, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
maddiebo97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: War, Violence, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexism, Miscarriage, and Grief
jessicaludden'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
3.5
I loved being back in the Grishaverse and seeing what these characters are up to now. I loved the politics in this and there were definitely some plot twists I didn’t see coming. I really liked learning more about Nikolai and Zoya especially because we really didn’t get a lot from them in the books before. Of course I loved seeing Nina again, even if it meant hurting my heart every time she mentioned Matthias.
But I did feel like there was some pacing issues which caused a disconnect with the characters and the plot. I just couldn’t get into it and never really cared a huge amount about the characters. It was very slow in some parts and very repetitive which often left me feeling like I was reading parts that were unnecessary to the character and plot development. But overall, I’m excited to read the next one!
Minor: Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pregnancy