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isleoflinds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Death
kenziewol'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
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement and War
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, and Cursing
katsbooks'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? It's complicated
4.0
“The physical body—it heals. The scars fade. But the memories are forever. Even when you forget, they remain inside, taunting you, resurfacing when you least expect.”
“They might need us now because we're valuable, might pretend to accept us, to reward us - but never forget what they did to us first.”
I'll be real. I put this book down about halfway through and almost didn't pick it back up. But I'm really glad I did. Other than the dip in the middle, the world-building was solid and intriguing. The patriarchy that Forna depicted was hard to read at times but I couldn't help drawing parallels to the real world.
I really enjoyed the found family trope. The secondary characters were so lovely and I ended up really liking how the author seemed to hold up the platonic relationships to the same level as the romantic one. It made the romantic relationship feel healthy and grounded while also not letting it take over the rest of the narrative.
I am interested to see how the second book progresses given that this one seemed to wrap up pretty nicely. It's almost like the author wasn't sure she if she would get to publish the second one so left enough loose ends, just in case, while tying up the big, important ones.
I also want to give some pretty major trigger warnings for death, torture and violence. This is marketed as Young Adult but I would definitely push this towards older teen readers for those scenes alone. The main character and her friends can heal from almost any injury so there are multiple scenes of torture including a pretty prominent scene of dismemberment.
Graphic: Genocide, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual violence
jashanac'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
3.75
This was BRUTAL at times, including very early on. Very much content warnings for murder (of young girls especially), torture (of young girls specifically), sexual violence, sexual violence against children, gore, xenophobia... there is only one scene with a mention of sexual violence that happened to one of the girls when she was younger but the description of what happened to her is truly horrifying... so be aware of that before picking this up!
I felt like the pacing was a bit rushed at the end -- it kind of came across to me like the author was aiming for an epic "here comes the cavalry" and epic "omg PLOT TWIST" moment a time or two, which fell slightly flat for me. Not terribly flat, not super disappointing, but just a little bit, "Oh... okay."
I enjoyed the cast of characters and seeing them form very close bonds with one another, and I appreciated that while we do have a bit of a budding romance that we see forming that was not at all the focus and the main character's friendships even had priority over the romantic interest/relationship.
The magic and world-building was also intriguing to me -- enough that I do indeed look forward to the next book!
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual violence
Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Sexism, Pedophilia, Child death, Torture, and Misogyny
anniereads221's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, War, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Rape
h_reads98's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
Graphic: Torture, Murder, War, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, Death, Rape, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Hate crime
rachaelfryman'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
4.0
Reminds Me of: African Mythology, meets feminist themes, meets EPIC battles
Three Reasons You Should Read This:
1) The cover - I mean come on. This is GORGEOUS!
2) The powerful messages of feminism and anti-misogyny are on pointe!
3) There were so many twists that I did not see coming and I audibly gasped a few times! :)
One Thing You Should Know Before You Pick it Up:
This is extremely violent!! This should be expected in a book that features so many battle scenes, but please know going in - a LOT of violence!
Content Warnings: death, death of a loved one/parent, extreme violence, misogyny, mutilation, rape, sexual abuse/sexual abuse of a child, torture, trauma
Favorite Quote: “Never forget: the same gift they praise you for now, they will kill you for later.”
Sound Track:
Monster - Meg and Dia
Unstoppable - Sia
Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
All These Things That I've Done - The Killers
Zombie - Bad Wolves
Headstrong - Trapt
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and War
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Trafficking, and Pedophilia
teatales's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, War, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Death of parent, and Grief
canascorner'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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: War, Torture, and Physical abuse
filipa_maia's review against another edition
- 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
I really enjoyed this book. Full of twists and turn the story is really interesting and grabs you right from the beginning. The story is very character driven, all of them really evolve, and that is very interesting to witness. All the girls are so strong and powerfull, I love it!
On a less positive note, I think that the story really lacks more detailed descriptions of the creatures (deathshrieks). I'm not a very imaginative person so, throughout the reading, I really struggled to compose a clear picture of the creatures in my brain.
This was a great, and very interesting, reading and I'm curious for the next book.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault