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irenemayblack'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
5.0
Moderate: War, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Violence
Minor: Death, Addiction, and Murder
amxgco'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: Blood, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
Moderate: War, Cursing, Death, and Sexual content
alxisrae'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
hmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
YA "romantasy" is wayyy down the list of genres I gravitate towards, but I did find this enjoyable. The world-building is solid, and the characters are interesting. For me, the complexity of the novel is just right: it's not high high fantasy with a million characters and dynamics, but there is enough there for it to be satisfyingly fleshed-out. I'm even contemplating reading the next book in the series...
That said, I'm still rating based on my taste. This is definitely for a younger audience, and it shows in how some of the relationships develop (including the primary romantic one, in which a switch just seems to flick between one chapter and the next). Some of the writing is clumsy or overly descriptive in a gauche way.
I had fun, though! And I hardly ever read physical books over 400 pages, so that's a big win.
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Self harm, War, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Police brutality
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Animal death
Minor: Abandonment
valinorlady's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Torture
unusuallyy's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Self harm and Religious bigotry
Minor: Toxic relationship
ritualistic trauma; religious trauma-ish, cultish traumasaoreads'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: Hate crime, Animal death, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, War, Blood, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Drug use, Murder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Body horror, Violence, and Torture
jullebullerulle's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
i want to be a witch now.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Murder
corine'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
accalia175's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
__________
This was a Goodwill store pickup book, mostly because it was a fantasy/witch-type. The cover artwork was eye-catching as well. I only read this book for something to pass the time as I'm waiting for two other books to be delivered of other series I'm reading. However, it's clear from the beginning chapter this is certainly a YA book, if not a mature YA. There's a lot of dialogue, not much description, and things seem to be jumping around. If you're not well-versed in French, fair not since there aren't too many terms/names that are hard to pronounce, but for me, there was enough that I was kinda struggling throughout the entire book.
The plot is a familiar church vs witches theme, with the witches having massive powers and out for blood, as well the church burning any witch at the stake, no questions asked. We've all seen/read of this before, so the originality is lacking. The slight difference is that the bad guys almost end up grouping together to become good guys, in a sense.
So, why the 3 stars?
- Lack of originality
- Little descriptions of people, cities/towns, events, etc.
- Too much dialogue (in a way I was able to breeze through most of it without actually "reading" it)
- For most of the book, the plot seems to vary, as do the characters' emotions. There are only two POVs, but it all seems so different each time it's switched. Almost like a whiplash of emotions/actions, so to speak.
I do want to mention the ending for anyone who's thinking of DNFing this book. It took until the last quarter or so of the book for me to fully have a grasp on the characters, where the plot is heading, and actually wanting to find out what happens. I don't want to give anything away, but it's almost sweet. There were actually a couple of spots that were heartwrenching. There's some humor mixed into the book, but most of it seems to fall flat.
This is certainly a YA book, but mature for language and there's only one "spicy" scene.
This will not a series I will be continuing to read.
Moderate: Hate crime, Murder, Blood, and Death