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scribesquadrant_sierra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Cannibalism
Minor: Vomit and Fire/Fire injury
greystory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I liked the premise so I finally went for it. It was eh. The writing itself was alright. Not good, not great, but not bad either. My biggest complaint was the sheer YA-ness of it all which kind of isn't fair to hold against it. I was going to say this wasn't predictable like I thought it would be but in the end, it was, it just took longer getting there than anticipated.
I also don't love the sort of love triangle. Nor the massive maturity gap in the end relationship. I had unanswered questions at the end, which was a bummer given we had to sit through that extended antagonist monologue revealing stuff (unfortunately some of the same stuff more than once because Isla wasn't getting it for some reason).
Notes I jotted down while reading: (beware there be spoilers)
* She keeps referring to Grimm as having done her a favor when he implied there'd be a duel, but I find that to be a stretch. Everyone in the challenge had a sword so it wasn't like she would have been without one, right? And if you're preparing for this event your whole life, why wouldn't you have a suit of armor prepared or part of your plans? I found this really confusing.
* The severe training memories and reminders of being trained her whole life were at odds with Isla's general unpreparedness. Some of them training memories especially made no sense. These are regular humans with some magical abilities right? It's not possible to hang from something for 5 hours straight. Even if she could, doing it once like a decade ago does not prepare one for a swordfight. That does not translate, at all.
* The whole relationship with Grimm felt rushed and built on absolutely nothing. He flirted a little bit with her and she was so attention starved she was eating it up, apparently.
* She gets a secret from the secret dude Juniper and at 25% in, it's implied she can only ever get one secret from him. Why would she waste it on asking about getting around the moon guards? The answer was to wait until the full moon because the moon guards would have to be inside because all of the moonlings have to be indoors during it. How is that not basic information you already have about the moonlings? Shouldn't she or Celeste already know this??
* More of the Grimm relationship nonsense. Isla's making choices like I guess someone in their early 20s in their first ever romantic foray would but god is it frustrating and embarrassingly foolish.
* Isla is constantly telling herself she can't trust anyone and then going and trusting everyone.
* She will literally do things that make no sense. "Isla had to be quick!" then 2 seconds later she melodramtically kneeled on the floor, sighing and dwelling on her situation with emo lenses for awhile instead of doing anything. Ma'am. Ma'am, I can't with you.
* Isla is really not the brightest at times
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
bronzel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Genocide
Minor: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury
kassidyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent
kenziehath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Genocide
taryn_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Death
Minor: Suicide
grace_9613's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury
gayelfboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail