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amy_in_the_city'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? It's complicated
3.0
The book suffered from pacing problems. The first third of the book dragged on and on, with Bryce spending way too much time wandering through tunnels looking at art. Maybe it would have been a bit more interesting if we at least got some angst from Bryce, but it felt like she wasn't all that concerned about her mate and brother being in grave danger. There was no sense of urgency on her part to rescue them from being tortured and maybe eventually executed. Then, later in the book, we get to follow along as Bryce wanders through tunnels again. Not exactly riveting stuff.
There were also too many POVs happening to allow enough time with the main characters. I really didn't care about Ithan's and Tharion's storylines and dreaded every time it switched back to their POVs. They were mostly just those two characters making stupid mistakes followed by a lot of self loathing. I hope they make Tharion much more interesting and likeable if he's going to feature prominently in the next book. I did like his marriage of convenience subplot and think there is interesting potential there.
Bryce and Hunt's relationship was a mess in this book, and I really didn't like Bryce much. She never communicates her plans with Hunt. Then even though Hunt is blindly following her into danger, she picks fights with him because he isn't enthusiastic about being there. How can he be 100% on board with her plans when he doesn't know what they are? She doesn't seem to care that this is only a couple days after he got back from spending several days being brutally tortured for allowing her to drag him into this mess. Or that the situation is reminiscent of how things went with Shahar and to say that ended tragically would be an understatement. Bryce was being so disrespectful towards Hunt and his trauma because she wanted to look like a badass with gotcha moments and zingers. Really, it feels like most of her plans were half-baked at best, and they only work out in her favor because of plot armor. It didn't feel like an equal partnership between the main couple. Bryce just does whatever she wants, doesn't tell Hunt, and leaves him to deal with the consequences. At least she does apologize to Hunt for being a dick at one point, but I'd prefer if she didn't spend most of the book acting like a dick to begin with.
Ruhn and Lidia were this book's saving grace. I kept wishing they were the main couple because they were great, and I wanted the story to spend more time with them. Lidia was such a badass, so clever and sneaky. I love sneaky characters who know how to play along with the game in order to achieve their goals and there aren't nearly enough leading women out there like this. I don't know that we got enough justification for why she joined the evil side to begin with though, and I feel like the explanation for why she changed sides was kind of flimsy. Ruhn is almost perfect in every way, with a major exception for
Other characters I really liked spending time with in this book were Nesta, Azriel, Hypaxia, and Aidas.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy
ashleynp24'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
shellind75's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
jades3'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
melissat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Going from how much I loved Crescent City 1, and how I was starting to get annoyed with Bryce and Hunt in book 2, I thought 3 would have a lot of room for redemption. Instead it was almost 1000 pages of self-flagellation from the male characters, and gaslighting and narcissism from Bryce. Internal and external dialogues, infodumping (but not about anything interesting), and more of Bryce being incessantly full of attitude that really grated on my nerves by about halfway through.
I wish the editors had been allowed to do their jobs and cut so many unnecessary POVs and chapters. The characters all acted in toxic ways under the guise of "doing it for love". Meanwhile, what they were doing was just abuse and control. I essentially hate-read this til the end.
I really hope that we get better character arcs and plot for the next ACOTAR book, otherwise I'll be so sad!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction
rhiannon_burden'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
princessrory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Classism
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
neliadiedenise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
smkelly1997's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
- SJM has done it again. The plot, the development, drawing you into the story. The most amazing part for me was
the connection between TOG, ACOTAR, and CC. I didn’t even realize Brann was the king talked about in the first book. It also made me wonder about Lidia connection to it all . Overall a great book. I cannot wait for more.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
spicyspookypotato's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail