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achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
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
4.0
oh boy oh boy i was not expecting to love this and it has torn my heart out and stamped on it and i didnt realise it wasnt a standalone and now im dying
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
stephbakerbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Okay, I don't know why I slept on this book for so long, because I loved it! From start to finish, I was captivated by the plot, by the characters, by the magic, by the setting. Easily the best fantasy I've read this year.
I don't always like books set in the South (I think they rely on stereotypes to often), but this was done well and I enjoyed the campus setting. The plot slowly built over the course of the novel, giving us sufficient backstory and world building and investment in these characters before the climax—and man, that ending, I could not put the book down.
History plays an important role in this story, and nothing is glossed over or forgotten—I loved how it showed, through the use of fantastical magic, how history still affects our present, in particular the US's history of slavery. There's a lot of powerful imagery here. The King Arthur aspect to it was also really enjoyable and I thought it was explained well.
The characters, of course, were all wonderful. I loved Bree as the lead—she's dealing with grief for the whole novel and she still manages to find bravery and strength and learn how to trust people. I loved her growth. I loved her relationships with the other characters, particularly her dad.I did think that Nick was interesting at first but became more flat as the story progressed. This could be because I found Sel to be a far more interesting character who only got more interesting as I kept reading and I looked forward to all his scenes. I don't not like Nick, and I do like him and Bree together and their relationship, but I'm just more intrigued by Sel and a potential relationship between him and Bree, and I don't usually root for the "other" person in a love triangle so idk what happened here, but I may be in love with Sel!! *has existential crisis over what this book has done to me*
All that to say, this is going in my favorites and I'm stoked for the sequel!
I don't always like books set in the South (I think they rely on stereotypes to often), but this was done well and I enjoyed the campus setting. The plot slowly built over the course of the novel, giving us sufficient backstory and world building and investment in these characters before the climax—and man, that ending, I could not put the book down.
History plays an important role in this story, and nothing is glossed over or forgotten—I loved how it showed, through the use of fantastical magic, how history still affects our present, in particular the US's history of slavery. There's a lot of powerful imagery here. The King Arthur aspect to it was also really enjoyable and I thought it was explained well.
The characters, of course, were all wonderful. I loved Bree as the lead—she's dealing with grief for the whole novel and she still manages to find bravery and strength and learn how to trust people. I loved her growth. I loved her relationships with the other characters, particularly her dad.
All that to say, this is going in my favorites and I'm stoked for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, and Car accident
erniedresser's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
This book gave me very Reverie + Cruel Prince + Royal We + Revisioners energy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Car accident, and Murder
Minor: Rape and Slavery
joramous's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Car accident, and Pregnancy
axahean's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
miyaosamu'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? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“Don't make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
um yeah tracy deonn, i'm at a loss for words... I just finished a reread immediately after finishing my first read yesterday and still genuinely cannot process everything that just happened at the moment, this book was absolutely breathtaking. First of all, the magic system and lore was so intricate and mind blowing unlike anything I've seen in ya fantasy genre hands down along with the charming university setting balanced it out so well. Like wow the thought process that went into the whole history behind the craft system and bloodlines, it's wholly fantasy excellence that I feel grateful to read such a phenomenal story. It touches on important topics of race and its serious history over the last few centuries and intertwines history into the lore and how the craft manifested itself. And finally we get a story fully developed when it comes to handling grief and it isn't just pushed off to the side or the character getting over it quick. Bree's story of growth, going through grief, and discovering not only herself but her history was so poignant and seeing her realize her inner strengths. Bree's inner thoughts and struggles with dealing with loss really connected with readers on the emotional level, particularly with the denial stage and suppressing so much inside. Her grief process was so utterly raw and real to read, especially particular scenes in the last 20 percent of the book with her opening up a bit more and listening to advice from the closest people in her life had me a sobbing mess. The last 100 pages of this book will go down in the books, it had my brain whirring to keep up with everything that happened. I'm still stunned it was indeed chaos but in the best way questioning like wtf was going on and just shock after shock. It was a genuine rollercoaster of reactions from me, truly left an impact. I'm highly anticipating the sequel and need it instantly, I'm reeling and beyond excited to see where the story goes.
“I recognize that sound. It's the sound of holding on to a cliff by the edge of your nails. The sound of barely containing a pain so immense that to look at it, to raise your own flesh and examine what's beneath, is to risk falling into a darkness you know you'll never escape.”
um yeah tracy deonn, i'm at a loss for words... I just finished a reread immediately after finishing my first read yesterday and still genuinely cannot process everything that just happened at the moment, this book was absolutely breathtaking. First of all, the magic system and lore was so intricate and mind blowing unlike anything I've seen in ya fantasy genre hands down along with the charming university setting balanced it out so well. Like wow the thought process that went into the whole history behind the craft system and bloodlines, it's wholly fantasy excellence that I feel grateful to read such a phenomenal story. It touches on important topics of race and its serious history over the last few centuries and intertwines history into the lore and how the craft manifested itself. And finally we get a story fully developed when it comes to handling grief and it isn't just pushed off to the side or the character getting over it quick. Bree's story of growth, going through grief, and discovering not only herself but her history was so poignant and seeing her realize her inner strengths. Bree's inner thoughts and struggles with dealing with loss really connected with readers on the emotional level, particularly with the denial stage and suppressing so much inside. Her grief process was so utterly raw and real to read, especially particular scenes in the last 20 percent of the book with her opening up a bit more and listening to advice from the closest people in her life had me a sobbing mess. The last 100 pages of this book will go down in the books, it had my brain whirring to keep up with everything that happened. I'm still stunned it was indeed chaos but in the best way questioning like wtf was going on and just shock after shock. It was a genuine rollercoaster of reactions from me, truly left an impact. I'm highly anticipating the sequel and need it instantly, I'm reeling and beyond excited to see where the story goes.
“I recognize that sound. It's the sound of holding on to a cliff by the edge of your nails. The sound of barely containing a pain so immense that to look at it, to raise your own flesh and examine what's beneath, is to risk falling into a darkness you know you'll never escape.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexism, and Car accident
Minor: Rape and Slavery
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
DNF'd at 40%. I could just not connect with this main character at all. 40% into a book, you should be able to connect with the main character. I know many have championed the main character's strength and spunk but all I got was her extreme selfishness. She never thinks about anyone but herself and puts many people in awful situations but does not think at all how this might effect them, she is only ever concerned about herself. And then when people do point this out to her, she gets upset with them like it is their fault. It just blew my mind how blind she was to how much her irresponsible, selfish actions, directly effected so many other people.
I did like how this book talked about racism, growing up as a young black woman in a very conservative state, how the police talked to her versus her white classmates, how she handled the death of her mother and the grieving process. All of those things I really liked and I know that in literature, especially mainstream YA, we need more books that talk about these topics so openly so we can begin to normalize these kinds of conversations.
But, I could just not connect with the main character. And once we got into the fantastical elements of this books, I just could not keep up. The hierarchy of their magical secret society, the demon hierarchy, the history of their secret society, there was so much info dumping that I just started skimming after the 20% mark.
I know so many people loved this book so I am definitely in the minority here but this book just wasn't for me which I'm super bummed about.
I did like how this book talked about racism, growing up as a young black woman in a very conservative state, how the police talked to her versus her white classmates, how she handled the death of her mother and the grieving process. All of those things I really liked and I know that in literature, especially mainstream YA, we need more books that talk about these topics so openly so we can begin to normalize these kinds of conversations.
But, I could just not connect with the main character. And once we got into the fantastical elements of this books, I just could not keep up. The hierarchy of their magical secret society, the demon hierarchy, the history of their secret society, there was so much info dumping that I just started skimming after the 20% mark.
I know so many people loved this book so I am definitely in the minority here but this book just wasn't for me which I'm super bummed about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
daniwantsalibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, and Car accident
aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
what I liked:
- a black history/culture-Arthurian retelling
- the commentary on race
- the dark academia vibes
- all the fighting and swords
- discussion about grief and loss
what I didn't like:
- the romance, so so so rushed, insta-love, could not suspend my belief about it, literally why it lost one star
what I am ambivalent about:
- most of the characters tbh... way too many names and positions to remember and cant remember who likes and dislikes Bree.
overall, it was an engrossing read, really creative and innovative but I hated the romance and the characters were generally hard to keep track of. intrigued for the next book and whether my latest theory will be correct
- a black history/culture-Arthurian retelling
- the commentary on race
- the dark academia vibes
- all the fighting and swords
- discussion about grief and loss
what I didn't like:
- the romance, so so so rushed, insta-love, could not suspend my belief about it, literally why it lost one star
what I am ambivalent about:
- most of the characters tbh... way too many names and positions to remember and cant remember who likes and dislikes Bree.
overall, it was an engrossing read, really creative and innovative but I hated the romance and the characters were generally hard to keep track of. intrigued for the next book and whether my latest theory will be correct
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Blood and Car accident