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jasmine_470's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage
Minor: Homophobia
thecriticalreader'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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Violence, Grief, War, Pregnancy, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Rape, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Classism, Homophobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Slavery
takarakei's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
Unfortunately I felt like I read 3 different books that felt a bit disjointed.
- The first ~1/3 of this book is fantastic - good world building and character introductions, multiple povs to round out the perspective, very cool magic and I thought we were being set up for such a cool adventure.
- The second ~1/3 was one long battle/war scene. This is maybe a "me" thing because typically battle scenes are really not my favorite thing to read, but this went on FOREVER. Even with the magic being super cool to read, at some point I was just really over reading about it and it felt rather repetitive.
The deaths in this section also felt mostly like for shock value to me - The last ~1/3 after this battle the book took a sudden turn into a super character driven not-plot where we just follow the aftermath of the battle where they are rebuilding this town and it was honestly boring. As my friend said "the culmination of this epic fantasy is….logging and building a school….."
- ALSO I HATED the Takeru redemption "arc" cause it's not an arc, it was a complete 180 out of nowhere with no build up and sorry I do not sympathize with him! His character development was not nuanced enough for me to care, and in the end he was still doing dumb things. IMO if Takeru had been explained to be mainly just distant/cold but not outright abusive to Misaki/the children this change would have made more sense.
I guess I just didn't expect to literally not leave this one small town the entire book (Misaki's flashbacks do not count imo). The men in this book were all incredibly insufferable and useless. Misaki was also a bit frustrating to read at times because while I can understand why she entered into this marriage based on societal expectations, I cannot understand how she became a completely different person for 15 years.
After finishing I did some research and realized this book was written as a prequel to a YA series this author wrote that I guess holds the more conclusive ending to the empire etc??? But that made this read not like a completed standalone because at the end I still had a lot of questions about how things in this world would get resolved.
The audiobook narrator mispronounces words which was very irksome as someone who speaks some Japanese. These are not words that were made up by the author, but real Japanese words that were being used in their original context. I found actually the narration was inconsistent with some pronunciation.
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Homophobia, and Slavery
anastasiamakes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The start was a little slow for me, and I didn't feel all of the side-backstory stuff (or their resolutions) blended in super well with the rest of the book; but a great read overall. I felt *so many feelings* reading this.
Graphic: Child death, Blood, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia
zeldazonks'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
1) for some reason the very specific way that Misaki's extra curricular activities (trying to avoid spoilers) are written felt really incongruous with everything else and were kind of cringe to me. The superhero vibes were just jarring.
2) I on the whole didn't mind the redemption arc of the husband, I spent a lot of the book waiting for it to happen because otherwise he would have been so cartoonishly villainous, but I think Misaki was very quick to forgive a specific incident involving Mamoru.
3) I don't know if it's because it was meant to be a series and then plans changed, but there's so much set up for plot lines for future books and so the end kind of lagged for me compared to how incredible the first 2/3 of the book were.
Having said that, the first 2/3 were so good, that I still loved it.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Death, Torture, Grief, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia
abirdiebooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Potential triggers:
Graphic: Rape, Child death, Gore, Suicide, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, War, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body horror, Homophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexism
angstifies's review
- 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
the characters and dynamics were so well written it blew my mind, this world and magic system are super interesting and it had the literal best fighting scenes i’ve ever read.
probably one of the best standalone fantasy books out there, i truly loved this story and how it progressed so much, and i couldn’t have thought of a better ending, wow
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Suicide, War, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy, Genocide, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse
lilifane's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Because I ignored the subtitle of the book. "A Theonite War Story" should have prepared me for... an actual war story. With all the gruesome horrors of war. Yeah, that's on me. Probably not the best time to read the book given the current global situation, either.
But! I really really really loved it. I hated it, but I loved it. It hurt, but it was SO good.
The character work is exceptional. It's fantastic, maybe even the best I've ever encountered. The main characters and points of view are a mother and her firstborn son. And I loooooove them both with all my heart. But all the side characters are amazing as well. All of them are flawed, which makes them so real.
But since this is such a character-driven story, the plot and action take a very long time to develop. Even then, I would say the climax of the story is in the middle of the book, with epic and creative magic/battle sequences. The second half mainly deals with the aftermath. And it's so impactful and painful. Because you care so much for these characters, it physically hurts to see them suffer and process the trauma. But the character arks, their development, the way relationships and dynamics change are worth it in the end, at least they were for me.
I can't say I enjoyed the direction the plot took. I wish it had gone in 10 different directions tbh. But I realize that this wasn't about the plot, but about the effects that war has on the individuals who have to live through it. It's also about love and duty, about community and survival, family and friendships.
Although the characters are what makes this book so special, I really enjoyed the world building and atmosphere. The mix of fantasy elements, magic and traditional values with advanced technology reminded me a little of Studio Ghibli movies, especially the ones that have war as a theme as well. And the action sequences are actually really good. I usually don't care for action unless it's interesting and can hold my attention. Which is the case here.
I don't know if I can recommend this book to anyone. But definitely to people who value character-driven stories and like to suffer. Just check trigger and content warnings beforehand, please.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Medical content, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, War, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Racism, and Rape
purplepink951'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: Child abuse, War, Child death, and Sexism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia
danielleor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Death, and Child death