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evelynyle_88's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
chanlo1994's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Abandonment and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Classism, and Animal cruelty
pandorica_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, War, and Colonisation
maregred's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Colonisation, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
karly_ackley's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy
sarahyjackson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75
It’s a little Star Wars derivative and I could have done with a bit more yearning in the first half BUT the second half was very fun, very spicy! I feel very invested in the political and personal dramas unfolding and will eager await the next installment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Death of parent, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
tenderbench's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and War
Minor: Death of parent
planetarymemory's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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
4.0
I felt several times during the reading of this book, something feels off, or different about the reading experience. It didn’t grab me right away - very dense world building and complicated fantasy names of people and places in the first few pages. I am usually quite turned off by that, but pushing through almost always pays off. I still can’t really put my finger on it but here are some things I did love:
1) this is a true “enemies to lovers.” This is almost always what I want when a book is billed this way. It feeds into the trope believably and over a good amount of time to really build that tension between the two characters.
2) the amount of time spent in the story vs the “X weeks/months later” felt so refreshing? I don’t know how else to put it. The story didn’t linger in places just to satisfy the plot moving forward, and it didn’t rush through important events. I wasn’t stressed out wondering what was gonna happen - all of the tension was between the two main characters, which frankly I loved. You really get a sense of a lived in world this way and it felt really natural.
3) the hurricane wars themselves - while you only really see the tail end of this conflict, there is no doubt that these wars ravaged the populace. I almost like this better, seeing the snippets of different battles without all the fuss of explaining a gruesome battle montage - besides the conflicts where our two main characters meet in battle. The absence of montages in general was so nice.
4) the writing!!! I don’t want to say flowery because that feels disingenuous but it’s the first word that comes to mind. Lush, maybe. The writing was beautiful, and different, and unexpected. I’m not sure if there will be a second book but I am hoping there will be - this was a great read and I look forward to anything else this author writes.
1) this is a true “enemies to lovers.” This is almost always what I want when a book is billed this way. It feeds into the trope believably and over a good amount of time to really build that tension between the two characters.
2) the amount of time spent in the story vs the “X weeks/months later” felt so refreshing? I don’t know how else to put it. The story didn’t linger in places just to satisfy the plot moving forward, and it didn’t rush through important events. I wasn’t stressed out wondering what was gonna happen - all of the tension was between the two main characters, which frankly I loved. You really get a sense of a lived in world this way and it felt really natural.
3) the hurricane wars themselves - while you only really see the tail end of this conflict, there is no doubt that these wars ravaged the populace. I almost like this better, seeing the snippets of different battles without all the fuss of explaining a gruesome battle montage - besides the conflicts where our two main characters meet in battle. The absence of montages in general was so nice.
4) the writing!!! I don’t want to say flowery because that feels disingenuous but it’s the first word that comes to mind. Lush, maybe. The writing was beautiful, and different, and unexpected. I’m not sure if there will be a second book but I am hoping there will be - this was a great read and I look forward to anything else this author writes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and War
I felt several times during the reading of this book, something feels off, or different about the reading experience. It didn’t grab me right away - very dense world building and complicated fantasy names of people and places in the first few pages. I am usually quite turned off by that, but pushing through almost always pays off. I still can’t really put my finger on it but here are some things I did love: 1) this is a true “enemies to lovers.” This is almost always what I want when a book is billed this way. It feeds into the trope believably and over a good amount of time to really build that tension between the two characters. 2) the amount of time spent in the story vs the “X weeks/months later” felt so refreshing? I don’t know how else to put it. The story didn’t linger in places just to satisfy the plot moving forward, and it didn’t rush through important events. I wasn’t stressed out wondering what was gonna happen - all of the tension was between the two main characters, which frankly I loved. You really get a sense of a lived in world this way and it felt really natural. 3) the hurricane wars themselves - while you only really see the tail end of this conflict, there is no doubt that these wars ravaged the populace. I almost like this better, seeing the snippets of different battles without all the fuss of explaining a gruesome battle montage - besides the conflicts where our two main characters meet in battle. The absence of montages in general was so nice. 4) the writing!!! I don’t want to say flowery because that feels disingenuous but it’s the first word that comes to mind. Lush, maybe. The writing was beautiful, and different, and unexpected. I’m not sure if there will be a second book but I am hoping there will be - this was a great read and I look forward any anything else this author writes.mollieweitzman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
5.0
I was going to rate this 4 stars until I got to chapter 38 UM 🫢
I really struggled through the first 200 pages because it’s SO MUCH military and conflict and countries and made up names for things BUT THEN AT LAST we get the marriage of convenience and everything just ✨falls into place✨ and I couldn’t stop
This book caused me so much fucking pain. They are truly enemies and neither one can STAND the fact that they like each other at any point AND IT IS SO PAINFUL AND SO SAD! The betrayal! The treachery! The deceit! I AM BROKEN AND I AM SO SAD AND IF THEA DOESNT WRITE THAT NEXT BOOK BY TOMORROW AND DELIVER IT TO MY DOOR I DONT KNOW WHAT I WILL DO
I really struggled through the first 200 pages because it’s SO MUCH military and conflict and countries and made up names for things BUT THEN AT LAST we get the marriage of convenience and everything just ✨falls into place✨ and I couldn’t stop
This book caused me so much fucking pain. They are truly enemies and neither one can STAND the fact that they like each other at any point AND IT IS SO PAINFUL AND SO SAD! The betrayal! The treachery! The deceit! I AM BROKEN AND I AM SO SAD AND IF THEA DOESNT WRITE THAT NEXT BOOK BY TOMORROW AND DELIVER IT TO MY DOOR I DONT KNOW WHAT I WILL DO
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
pastorscratchy1reads's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.25
Amazing world-building and politics
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual content, Violence, Death, and Cursing
If you don't want to read spice skip pages 447-455.