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erinamerritt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Death
Moderate: Child death
kaziaroo's review against another edition
Six spectacularly unlikeable people plot against each other (while also sleeping with each other) and explore the secrets of time and space through magic. Even that uninspired summary makes the book sound more interesting than it is. The book tries desperately to make you think everything it says is clever, but it's just not; the descriptions of science and magic felt like dry nonsense and the characters aren't nearly as deep and interesting as the amount of time spent in their heads implies. I read a good chunk (nearly two thirds) but ultimately decided it wasn't worth a minute more of my time and just read a plot summary online instead. Not worth the paper it's written on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Murder, and Suicide
hannahcstocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Suicide, Stalking, Blood, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
rebecca_jt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Minor: Murder
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I thought this book was good. I found it a bit slow and dense at times making it a bit difficult to get through.
I didn’t find the plot twist super surprising but I like the way it was explained. I found Libby to oftentimes be annoying and I wasn’t a huge fan of Tristan’s audiobook narrator. I liked Nico and Parisa’s characterizations. I also liked the rivalry between Nico and Libby.
All in all it was a bit confusing at times but I was able to catch up and get on the same page. Not a bad book
I didn’t find the plot twist super surprising but I like the way it was explained. I found Libby to oftentimes be annoying and I wasn’t a huge fan of Tristan’s audiobook narrator. I liked Nico and Parisa’s characterizations. I also liked the rivalry between Nico and Libby.
All in all it was a bit confusing at times but I was able to catch up and get on the same page. Not a bad book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, and Gun violence
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
fruitbatflora's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, and Violence
philosofreaky's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed this book but struggled to read it. (In the end, I think I just needed to be in the right mood/headspace to tackle it.) It's slow-paced, but I found the subject matter and character thoughts/conversations intriguing, until the last 5th of the book when it moves fast and exciting and couldn't put it down. That left me feeling quite content in the background and understanding I had of all the players moving forward.
I neither loved or hated anyone in particular, instead, did a good job of everyone having a purpose and being an intricate, ensemble cast. I will read the next one for sure, knowing that some parts might be dry but inevitably not? Somehow? I don't know. I still enjoyed the story AND the writing even though it didn't feel like a page turner. It made my brain happy.
Also, the bits in the short story included, Sacred Hospitality, did in fact make me chortle.
I neither loved or hated anyone in particular, instead, did a good job of everyone having a purpose and being an intricate, ensemble cast. I will read the next one for sure, knowing that some parts might be dry but inevitably not? Somehow? I don't know. I still enjoyed the story AND the writing even though it didn't feel like a page turner. It made my brain happy.
Also, the bits in the short story included, Sacred Hospitality, did in fact make me chortle.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Blood, Violence, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Drug use, Death, Bullying, Alcohol, and Murder
abbyycadabbyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
3.0
I had really high hopes for this book, and I was disappointed. I thought that the book was going to be a lot different then it was.
When people said that the characters were "competing to be in the school" I was thinking like physically competing. I thought the book was going to be kinda A Court of Thornes and Roses vibes with the challenges. To be honest I don't really feel like they were competing.
This kinda goes along with the "competing" thing, but this book was SO slow. I feel like the book was way too long and had way too much random info dumping. Like the characters would talk about the molecular build of something and that would take up like 20 minutes. Like I took chemistry I don't need to relearn it. I don't know that was like extremely boring.
I didn't really like any of the characters. The only character I kinda liked was Prisa. Even then, I felt like she was annoying because all she would talk about was how she knew how to get into a man's pants so that they would give her information. I didn't like that at all. She could be really smart if she actually tried, but instead she resorted to sleeping with people.
I am going to be so for real I don't think I would have finished this if I wasn't listening to the audiobook. I also don't know how I am going to get through the second book.
When people said that the characters were "competing to be in the school" I was thinking like physically competing. I thought the book was going to be kinda A Court of Thornes and Roses vibes with the challenges. To be honest I don't really feel like they were competing.
This kinda goes along with the "competing" thing, but this book was SO slow. I feel like the book was way too long and had way too much random info dumping. Like the characters would talk about the molecular build of something and that would take up like 20 minutes. Like I took chemistry I don't need to relearn it. I don't know that was like extremely boring.
I didn't really like any of the characters. The only character I kinda liked was Prisa. Even then, I felt like she was annoying because all she would talk about was how she knew how to get into a man's pants so that they would give her information. I didn't like that at all. She could be really smart if she actually tried, but instead she resorted to sleeping with people.
I am going to be so for real I don't think I would have finished this if I wasn't listening to the audiobook. I also don't know how I am going to get through the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Murder
bookaholic84's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Violence, Blood, and Suicide
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is my book club’s choice for September. I've always wanted to join a book club and it’s all online which I liked. I couldn’t participate in August’s book of the month as I'd already read it. So, this is the first month where I was fully involved. If this was the book club’s choice of the month, I probably wouldn’t have read it.
This book is based on the Alexandrian Society who are the caretakers of lost knowledge from the civilizations of antiquity, and they are a secret society for the magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, knowledge and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only six of the most talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiations. In this book, we meet the newest initiates: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are the unwilling halves of the unfathomable whole, who can control every element of physicality. Then there is Reina Mori, she is a naturalist who can speak the language of life within itself. Parisa Kamali is a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious and navigate worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova is an empath easily mistaken for illusionist and he can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through any illusions to a new structure of reality – it's an ability so rare that neither him nor his peers can fully grasp its powers. All of these candidates were recruited by the dark and mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they have one year to qualify for the initiation and during the time they are permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects such as time and space, luck and though, life and death. There is a competition – only five with get through to the initiation ceremony and one will be eliminated. The six will fight to survive the next year of their lives and prove themselves to be the best out of the six.
This is another book where I was ignoring the hype on BookTok and was glad to ignore the hype on BookTok. I still don’t get the hype of it. I think my main issue with this book is I hated all the characters; I am all for rooting for the main character within a book. Due to this book having all six POVs, there wasn’t a good person who you knew was going to be safe. Libby was annoying and she was too much of a people pleaser than focusing on herself. Nico was just two-faced and taking unnecessary risks. Reina was too quiet that I felt we barely got to know her and when she was there, she couldn’t control her powers, or she was talking about stuff we already knew. Parisa drove me up the wall with how bitchy she was – the mean girls called, and Regina George wants her personality back. She was all about being open about sex and things which is all great but then was completely shaming Libby for only having one boyfriend or not wanting to sleep around. Callum gave me whiplash with how manipulating he was and honestly was glad about the decisions the team made if the plot was going that way. Tristan was the only one that sort of had a head on his shoulders and a conscious but felt like his POVs was just Callum is two-faced, Nico is annoying, Libby is cute, Parisa is staring at me. It felt like some characters were more favoured so had more of a personality and then others were literally there to remind us of information we already knew. I felt like the storyline and world building was a bit all over the place.
I liked how the book was a bit calmer considering it was a competition and they had to kill someone to survive. I loved the multiple POVs, I just wanted more from them. I was more interested in Nico’s friends side drama than the actual storyline that was going on.
Libby is probably the reason I might pick up the second book. Just to see what’s going to happen with her and who wins this freaking competition.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Alcohol