Scan barcode
cherry_bloom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm kinda disappointed because these characters have deep backgroud stories but they have no personality traits whatsoever.
Also the main girl isn't strong or cold like author wants us to believe she just always cries and she isn't even cry baby she just cries for aesthetics... 😭
Moreover the love story...... WHERE IS THE TENSION??!! It's bland probably 'cause of bland characters...
Anyways I thought it's gonna be 5 stars read but sadly it's only 4 and I would probably rate it 3 stars if I wasn't reading trashy books recently and this book is well put together just wasn't entertaining for me .
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Gore
issiwerro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
lallabc's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
celesteskies's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Gore and Violence
bee12345'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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Death, Gore, Grief, and Death of parent
fvae'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
This really had me wide-eyed at 2am trying to figure out what would come next. Love the characters, they're all fleshed out nicely and the world building and plot was extremely good. Author put all her brain cells into this. It had me gasping and laughing and thinking and wondering. Ugh love it.
Do I have trouble remembering what each card does and how many there are? yes.... BUT IM PLANNING TO REREAD THIS SO DW
10/10 yes. Another book that made me stay up all night to finish. BOOK TWO LETS GO
Minor: Gore
spatterson7'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: Violence
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Alcohol
razalicious's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder
cozycaro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol
skillyillian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Mild spoilers ahead, big spoilers will be tagged
What I really enjoyed about the world building was how the author sticks to her guns about the isolation of Blunder. They don't, can't, travel beyond it, so there's not a single mention of the rest of the world. It's so well done. We only ever see Blunder, but that means it's fully developed with it's own culture, traditions, superstitions, and history. The world is steeped in lore.
The magic system here is so incredibly unique and well thought out, I can't get over it. An infectious mist from a vengeful deity is such a badass way to give your characters magic, and having each person get magic unique to them after the infection just adds to the coolness of it all. Then to add the Cards on top of that? Consider me obsessed. The whole idea of balance, and the way the characters hold it in a place of reverence as much as they hold their deity in a place of fear, is so well done. If the deity hasn't exacted her spiteful balance yet, the people will, in whatever way they think is best. The creativity here is off the charts.
The characters feel so real. Being in Elspeth's head, watching her co-exisg with the Nightmare because she has no other choice, was such a great idea. Ravyn and his family have the same motivation but you can see how it affects each of them individually. The romance felt a bit fast but I didn't really mind it all that much 🤷🏻♀️
The foreshadowing and plot thickening is really well done. My only real gripe with that is that I felt like plot twists such as
I like that the author left a lot of different loose threads for the second book to finish. I'm not super far into the next one but I can already see the loose ends from the first one being pulled into play and it feels really well done.
Overall, this book is just fuckin incredible. The plot, the people, the world building, the incredibly unique and mysterious magic system, and the (albeit kinda fast) romance. I ate this up and enjoyed every minute of it. I do wish there was more diversity in the characters, and that elspeth was a little less oblivious to what's going on around her (and in her head). But besides those and the quick romance, I have no complaints. None. No notes, no crumbs. Gillig knocked it out of the fuckin park here. Even when the foreshadowing felt kind of not super hard to solve at times, it was still so well executed that I really enjoyed each of the reveals. And there was still plenty of things that surprised me. The action was great, the consequences of people's choices were logical, there's just so much I loved here.
2024 is me getting back in my romantasy era and this is such a dope way to start it.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Terminal illness and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury