Scan barcode
gabbyisbaking'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
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and War
bsmulca'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, War, and Violence
not_today_seitan'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
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Classism, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
jasperdotpdf's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
The first half of this book especially is very slow, it‘s littered with worldbuilding that is, admittedly, pretty complicated. I was also so incredibly bored by Ali‘s POV until more than halfway through, mainly because it felt very isolated and it was hard to get a feel for where his part of the story was going - or at least why his POV needed to be there.
Occasionally it felt like a bit of a chore because it‘s very densely written, but the book did a good enough job at leaving crumbs to keep me hooked until the end.
Once I got to the end things ramped up and I think I‘ve actually lost my mind because I am dying to get to the sequel. I love how the book conveys the hardships of ruling, of dealing with a war and with rebellion, with court intrigue and the necessary sacrifices. All of the characters are wrapped up in so much shit and the fact they all have to make devastating choices to deal with it is such a strength of this book. It‘s nice to read something that doesn‘t equip its characters with copious amounts of plot-armour and arbitrarily backs them into narrative corners as a way of railroading them to the next plot point.
I will say that this rating is probably a bit higher than it would be were I not very eager for Kingdom of Copper. City of Brass really felt like it was weighed down by the need for exposition, and I‘m hoping that that the sequel will pick off at a similar level of suspense and intrigue as this ended on and make all of the set-up worth it.
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Minor: Rape
hannah_and_her_stories'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: Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Blood, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Child death and Rape
brookesinfinitebooks'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Racism and Classism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
elizabeth_lepore'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
erinsampson91'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
Moderate: Violence and War
ericageorge91's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Trafficking, Classism, Alcohol, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape and Child abuse
erebus53'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
I tackled this book as part of a book club (Lighthouse Library thicc bois :) ). It wasn't something I had heard of before that. It starts off set in Cairo with a young woman of unknown origin who is a theif, swindler and survivor, and who has a mysterious healing talent and the ability to understand languages, which she hides to avoid people thinking her a dangerous witch.
Her world is upended when she utters some words of power while doing a faith healing scam, and unexpectedly summons something to her. This leads to her and a big scary soldier guy on the run from murderous ghouls and ifrits. She learns of the world of Daeva and Djinns and journeys to find sanctuary in a magical hidden city, all the while being hunted and tracked by mysterious forces and magical creatures.
Having read a children's translation of the Persian epic Shahnameh, some of the creatures and names were familiar to me. I did keep wondering if Nahri's uncle had an epic warhorse called Rakhsh. I find that I clearly have a lot more grounding in the myths of the Pacific Islands, the Mediterranean, Europe and the British Isles, and need to read more mythic stories from other parts of the world. This story weaves together myth from many places in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South and East Asia. Thematically it pits Tradtions, family, individualism, duty, and survival together in a story that sets up a world that I feel is yet to be explored and played in. That's quite a big book for an intro!
The main character is antiheroic. She is a thief, a liar, and a con-artist. She is used to not having a lot and needing to swindle what she can, and so she is out of her depth when she is cast into a palace with opulence at all turns. She is under no illusions that everyone has their own agenda, and that appearances are often skin-deep. It can make for slippery footing as you try to come to grips with a story where there are centuries of history, of alliances and rivalry.
As far as the elemental magic goes, it's generally coherent. The story has some curiosities but non of the "surprises" are overly so. I'm interested to wade into the world and see a little more.
Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, War, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Classism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infertility, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Excrement
Minor: Dementia, Chronic illness, Classism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Cancer, and Abandonment