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meaganita's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
Some of the metaphors or symbolism was a bit heavy handed, but overall this was a really lovely story about trauma (both personal and familial), grief, healing, and acceptance. Soraya feels so real to me and I could see myself and many of my loved ones in her and the characters around her. The addition of the queer themes without the stigma of queerness as a plot point elevated her relationships to the other characters in the story and allowed it to truly blossom into a beautiful book about self-discovery. I absolutely loved it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Violence and Blood
strange_little_ranger'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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping
noorakorkka's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One of my favourites now. Loved the main character and the ending. Hated how family treated her and how lonely her life had been. Also every time everything was beginning to go well something went wrong. The story rly kept me on my toes the whole time just waiting for the next blow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
zoyaology'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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
sandy_21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Torture
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I finished this book five days ago and am just now starting the review, which is an unusually long delay for me. But I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to say about this book. It's really, really good - set in a world based on ancient Persia, featuring a cursed princess and fascinating demons and just enough magic to be tantilizing without giving it a high fantasy feel. It was highly engaging and I enjoyed every minute of it.
What makes it hard to write a review is that the plot on the back cover wraps up about 40% into the book. It's a rare book that can put the major twist in before the halfway point and still make the story interesting, but this book pulls it off. And also makes it hard to review, because anything I say about the last 60% is going to be a spoiler.
This is one of those books you could easily analyze for a paper for school or discuss in a literature class. It has Important Themes of family loyalty (what do you owe your family if everything they've done has made your life worse?) and humanity versus monsterhood, centering around a cursed princess who believes her poisonous touch makes her more monster than human. But if you don't feel like digging that deep into it, you don't have to. In a surface read, it's a perfectly entertaining fantasy story with likeable characters and surprising twists.
Since it's so hard to talk about the story contained in this book without ruining the experience, I guess I'll just say this: Experience it for yourself. It's a great fairy tale, marvelously told, set in a richly imagined world of Persian royalty and demons who haunt the woods, resplendent with myths and monsters and unexpected surprises and featuring a protagonist who is as loveable as she is relatable. It's a very, very good book and needs to be experienced to understand just how good it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Kidnapping
chloeschapters's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
reading_between_the_trees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Soraya is born with a curse. Poison flows in her veins so that anything she touches dies. Her poison could be her greatest strength or her greatest weakness. It could make her fold inward or stand tall in power. I mean, what a premise. I was drawn into this story immediately, and every bit of wonderful literary potential was pulled out of this incredible set-up.
In a sea of patriarchal fantasy and heteronormative romance, this book was a breath of fresh air. Everything about it was feminist in the best way. The female bi protagonist drove the story with her flaws center stage right next to her self-reckoning and strength. But her moments of weakness were just as exquisitely written. It is just so hard to put the perfection of this book into words. Where is the sequel? I need more of Bashardoust's writing.
In a sea of patriarchal fantasy and heteronormative romance, this book was a breath of fresh air. Everything about it was feminist in the best way. The female bi protagonist drove the story with her flaws center stage right next to her self-reckoning and strength. But her moments of weakness were just as exquisitely written. It is just so hard to put the perfection of this book into words. Where is the sequel? I need more of Bashardoust's writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Torture
eternalparadox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Confinement
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Gore, Torture, and Kidnapping
valyn_grebe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is book is like Tangled, a coming of age story about a girl with powers. If you like enemies to lovers, you’ll enjoy this book the guy love interest is NOT a nice dude .
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Kidnapping