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archane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
queer_bookwyrm'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
Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart is book one in the Witches Steeped in Gold duology. This was a YA Jamaican inspired fantasy that, honestly fell a little flat for me. I wanted so badly to like it, but it just didn't hit for me.
We follow two povs from Iraya Adair, the lost Adair heir of the former Obeah doyenne, and Jazmyne, the Emissary and heir of the current Alumbrar doyenne. The Obeah used to be the ruling order of Aiyca, and oppressed the Alumbrar and described as a violent and brutal order. The Alumbrar staged a coup and placed themselves in charge, continuing the cycle of violence. Ira has been imprisoned and doesn't want to rule, only get revenge on the doyenne for killing her parents. Jazmyne wants to end her mother's violent reign.
This book was incredibly slow. I felt like we didn't learn enough about the world, the different orders, or the magic system. The politics seemed convoluted, and neither side seemed to be the "good guy." Neither of the main characters were all that likeable. Ira avoided helping her own people and avoided forming relationships that might have made her more likable. Jazmyne seemed like a weak character that didn't have much growth until the end and it was still pretty weak.
Even the minor romance between Ira and Kirdan feels forced. I just felt like this story was too long and the pacing slow. All of the action and character development happens in the last third of the book. I'm just very disappointed in this book and won't be continuing to the next book.
Graphic: Violence and Death
hugobluue'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
4.25
Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Gore
thaliareads's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Death
I'll admit that I'm behind on reviews, so I may have missed some of the content warnings.dontfretd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence
just_a_bibliophile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The pacing seemed very off to me. It started off SO slow, and I reeeeeally had to push through it. Although the pacing picked up a bit in the last 30% of the book, it just felt like not enough happened, and it took me at least ridiculously long to read.
I really really wanted to like the characters, but I quite frankly just couldn't distinguish between them. As great as the dual narrative that we got seemed at first, I just didn't think the characters were fleshed out enough for this to be a success. The character development seemed a little off too - the characters either had very minimal development or suddenly appeared to experience this entire personality change overnight. Also, the romance was genuinely so strange. I didn't see the chemistry between the love interests, and it honestly made no sense to me - I don't think it was adding anything to the book either.
I struggled to keep up with understanding the world-building - could just be me, but I found it a little confusing at times and didn't think it was entirely as developed as it could be.
Culturally, this book was wonderful. I loved the Jamaican-inspired fantasy elements, and despite my confusion over the magic system at times, I still thought it was clearly very cleverly written. The diversity and representation incorporated was so refreshing to read, and generally, these aspects were enjoyable.
While this wasn't really for me, I don't doubt that other fantasy fans would devour it. Worth a read if you can get through the first half of the book.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Sexual assault
natashaleighton_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Genocide
rexpostfacto'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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Murder
Minor: Child death
esme_may's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Alcohol
starrysteph's review
- 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
3.0
This was a complex (& dense) high fantasy read. I would strongly recommend taking it easy and reading small chunks at a time to slowly become immersed and gain a better understanding of the world.
There was a lot of richness here (and I don't think I've read a Jamaican-based fantasy before – so, very cool!), but it was very slow and often overwritten.
Here's what I enjoyed:
• I also really liked the magic system and how the viewpoints of different characters physically changed the way they were able to utilize magic
• Both POVs played with power & victimhood in interesting ways, leading to a unique and complicated setup of good vs. evil and general villainy
• The premise is awesome! Two rival witches ... an examination of revenge and leadership and sacrifice
• The book needed some editing (it was unnecessarily long & some word choices were peculiar) and the pacing was off; the first 75% was incredibly slow with most action happening offscreen but then everything came together in an overwhelming way
• I'm speaking for myself but I think other readers can probably relate: I desperately needed a glossary for the amount of names/positions and terminology
• While the POVs were theoretically very different, their voices blended together for me and it wasn’t obvious who was speaking - this was especially frustrating because it was told in first person
CW: violence, blood, death, murder, child death, death of parent, war, torture, confinement, body horror, vomit, bullying, sexual assault (mentioned), suicide (mentioned)
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Vomit, War, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Rape