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amy14'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Gore, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Torture, War, Slavery, and Vomit
booksalacarte'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Cursing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Drug use, Grief, War, Confinement, Alcoholism, Animal death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Stalking, Body horror, Torture, Excrement, and Adult/minor relationship
novaleestar'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: Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Alcoholism, Gore, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Grief, Violence, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Child death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Torture, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Rape
anntharai's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
The issues I have with it REALLY irk me.
The world building is immaculate if a bit on the nose, really vivid writing and visceral descriptions, a great mechanic. Love the use of tattoos and the lore building. Overall I liked the story itself.
The issues, though?
I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the vulgarity because it was genuinely ludicrous at times. Swearing doesn’t bother me in the slightest but the lengths to which these characters went just to get a “banged your relative” joke in was over the top.
Everything has a simile. Everything. The doors locked like a secret. The floors cold like the night. The night air cold like knives. Wind like knives. Words like knives. Running frightened like a startled horse in a barn on fire and the devil whipping it all the way. The lips red like red things.
The repetitive phrases (fuck my face, like his lady’s lips the last time he kissed her, better a bastard than a fool) stopped feeling symbolic and started feeling like a crutch about half way through and using the same *twist* mechanic used twice (gender neutral names being the crux of two stories told so closely together) made it feel less polished than it could have been.
Thanks to various reviews etc I was also expecting a “big thing” to shock me at the end but I kind of felt it was obvious…?
Anti-climactic, in a word, but I do want to know what happens so it’s not like I hated it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, War, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Outing, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gore, Excrement, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Blood
karapillar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Moderate: Excrement, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, War, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy and Rape
t_higgsreviews'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
Re-Read = 26 October 2022
5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.43
In the sight of the Seven Martyrs I declare this book a masterpiece! I've taken a while to write this because it's impossible to go into too much about what I loved about it without spoiling anything but I'll give it a shot. It's a dark, snarky, multi-layered, gore-filled deep dive into what a world without sunlight and inhabited by vampires would be like. This has great, immersive world building, complex and flawed characters as well as a rollercoaster of a plot that will have you feeling ALL the emotions. Now just to wait on book 2 with bated breath and pine for yet another thing that Jay Kristoff has come up with that doesn't exist.
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Child death, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Child abuse, Excrement, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pregnancy