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abookwormspov's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Cannibalism
nchpmn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
ireadinbed's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
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
5.0
First 5 star of 2023!
Really enjoyed this book start to finish! Great characters and a world i still want to explore with plenty of mysteries left at the center.
I am so tempted to move on immediately even though i have a book i have been looking forward to waiting for me aleady lol.
Really enjoyed this book start to finish! Great characters and a world i still want to explore with plenty of mysteries left at the center.
I am so tempted to move on immediately even though i have a book i have been looking forward to waiting for me aleady lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child death
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Racism
kates_books's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I liked this book, but I’m not sure if I loved it enough to continue the series.
I loved the world building of this magical school. It was much more complex than Harry Potter (almost too complex at the start).
I loved that the main character is so bold and grows in her confidence throughout the book. She starts as this angry girl with a reputation for being dark and dangerous. The story follows her calling out injustices in the school and discovering how to use her power to form genuine friendships. It’s as much about the vulnerability of forming friendships as someone who has always felt alone as it is about magic.
The “love story” between Ell and Orien was okay. It kind of had enemies to friends to lovers vibes. But it’s very much a high school relationship and not actually that many cute scenes.
Overall, it was a really interesting concept for a magical world with a unique and misunderstood heroine.
I loved the world building of this magical school. It was much more complex than Harry Potter (almost too complex at the start).
I loved that the main character is so bold and grows in her confidence throughout the book. She starts as this angry girl with a reputation for being dark and dangerous. The story follows her calling out injustices in the school and discovering how to use her power to form genuine friendships. It’s as much about the vulnerability of forming friendships as someone who has always felt alone as it is about magic.
The “love story” between Ell and Orien was okay. It kind of had enemies to friends to lovers vibes. But it’s very much a high school relationship and not actually that many cute scenes.
Overall, it was a really interesting concept for a magical world with a unique and misunderstood heroine.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I want to start off by saying that I did read the diversity controversy regarding this book and I don’t think it was intentionally malicious. That being said, I’m not a part of either culture that was being affected.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Death of parent
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Classism, Murder, Body horror, Child death, and Death
ingi's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Racism
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Violence
Minor: Murder
_nem_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I very much enjoyed this book. I liked the way the description of the world was woven in when it was relevant to the story. It was slightly confusing at the beginning but I quickly got into the story and the location. It's a very interesting concept and set up and nothing like any school I have read about before. The narrator, El, is not written to be a likeable character and I did sometimes find her decisions frustrating but I wanted to know how they turned out. Having a powerful MC that then has their own struggles because of it was also a refreshing thing to read about.
I feel like some people will love this book and some people will hate it but if you like description and a detailed back story, I think you'll like it.
I feel like some people will love this book and some people will hate it but if you like description and a detailed back story, I think you'll like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Murder, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Medical trauma
considermebooked's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Death of parent