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Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Murder
Minor: Sexual content
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Now, Laia... I love her, but girl, why so naive at times? Letting a certain someone
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Sexual content
There’s an interesting theme of isolation between our three leads- Laia with Keenan, Elias with the Soul Catcher, and Helene’s loss- and how they face this isolation and forge ahead shows how special they are. This is also a spot I find frustrating as a reader because I’m certain these characters will all have to trust each other eventually to defeat the final evil but they don’t right now so they lack the full picture that they’d have if they worked together.
Sabaa Tahir excels in creating complex characters that thrive in murky gray morality and I absolutely love it. I was concerned about Helene’s story being consumed by lovesick feelings but I’m thrilled she’s coming in to her own. Elias’s journey is fascinating- he does everything in his power even as he’s dying to fulfill his vow to Laia (obligatory: Ladies, don’t settle. If he wanted to, he would.) and it leads to a big twist I know will be crucial and probably necessary as the series builds. And I already didn’t care for Keenan (he has big Gale energy) but there’s no way I could have predicted his deeply layered secrets.
I appreciate the well balanced push-pull between the different forces at play. It can be frustrating when you read something where the villains never slip up and are always one step ahead. Even as the Commandant builds her secret plans, Helene manages to foil some, which is a huge accomplishment when you consider the Commandant’s unearthly ally. Laia and Elias also discover a weakness in the Nightbringer despite the power imbalance between them. These successes make the world grim but not entirely bleak.
Content warnings: this world is brutal and survives on groups enacting violence upon each other. I’d recommend you stay away from the series if you can’t stand true cruelty.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent
Do I recommend reading a book with genocide and ethnic cleansing in it right now?
100% I do not.
I cried so hard I gave myself a headache
It was still as amazing as I remember but I need to go stare at a wall in a dark room for an indeterminable amount of time.
*sob*
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Rape
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual harassment
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail