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talonsontypewriters'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
2.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
evelynnnn33333's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
shottel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery, Vomit, Medical content, and War
tigger89'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
4.0
The dual-PoV was done very well. I found the two voices to be distinct, and the characters were believable. Sometimes they did foolish things — very foolish things — but those mistakes seemed natural. The supporting characters were also excellent(Maior was my favorite, by the end). I'm not sure what I think about Javier. I feel like I know where the author is taking his arc, and I think it's going to annoy me. I'd say he's honestly the biggest weakness of the entire book for me, because he leans on tropes — the sick boy, the jerk, the master manipulator — that I'm not a huge fan of, and yet he's so central. Fortunately he's not the only relationship present, so that softens the annoyance a bit, and the fact that Maior exists almost cancels his unpleasantness out.
The author is also an illustrator and has drawn her five primary characters. They appear in the book, some at the start of part 1 and some at part 2, and can also be viewed on her website. If you're a visual reader like me, I recommend checking all five portraits before you start reading so your brain performance of the book doesn't do any odd recasting. There is sapphic rep here, though in this first book at least it's predominantly incessant longing with some small payoff near the very end. The author claims that the next book will be spicier, so I imagine it will get more development later.
The book has frequent action sequences, mixing physical combat with spellcasting. This is going to be a weird comparison, because the settings and plots are nothing alike — not to mention I trust this author more than I trust Cassandra Clare — but whenever the characters were fighting I kept getting Shadowhunters vibes. In a good way. Don't @ me, I said it was weird.
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Slavery, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
_annika__'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
4.25
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism
blacksphinx'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
4.0
This is a book about people making bad decisions under duress, and by the end I think it may be fair to say one of our PoVs is a villain protagonist. The story set into motion by these events is fascinating, and I want to watch these girls become both better and worse.
(I wanted to give this book five stars, but people constantly keeping secrets from each other + a really annoying love triangle dragged it down.)
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Honestly this book left me with so many questions on the world building front.
On a character front, many of them didn’t stick with me or make me love them or hate them. I didn’t have strong feelings for a lot of the characters other than annoyance at their dumb decisions. I did like Maior and her fiery personality.
I wanted more clarity in the world building and character development. There were a few characters I enjoyed and I thought the fighting scenes were well described. I don’t think I will be picking up the rest of the series but I am glad I gave it a chance and someone who isn’t as nit picky about world building may enjoy this more than I did.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
dcfelk's review against another edition
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Miscarriage and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility
gen_wolfhailstorm'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
4.5
Buddy read with Sharron Joy Reads.
I loved the depth of this tale. It was slow for the first 3rd or so with world building but once I pushed through, I found it to be worthwhile.
The setting was lush, tense and atmospheric, all at the appropriate times.
I appreciated all the contextual terminology being at the front. I find nothing more tedious than trailing through the end of the book, looking for what something means, with the fear of seeing a spoiler hanging over me like a black cloud.
The conversation of oppression, classim and the mistreatment of other species due to being who they are was so on point to how society still is in the real world.
The sapphic romance threaded through was great. I felt like there was a lot of manipulation in the romance though (as well as the platonic relationships) and it was hurtful to see characters I began to care about being strung along on the whims of others.
The magic system felt unique and unusual to me and though at times it went over my head a little, I was excited to see powers being mastered by various characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can see how it can set up for a sequel, but equally would feel complete enough as a stand a lone.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
bryonyindecisivereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail