You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
nurseamandarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
egsie'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
kers_tin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, and War
Minor: Sexual harassment and Deportation
3arth2kaye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
clairew97'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
hedsek'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Deportation
gabi_tron'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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Blood and Classism
zoevjester'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
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
fozzybookmouse's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Much like Rin, Robin is a complete non-entity as a character, and just absorbs the opinion of whoever the last character he talked to was. The book is very long but so much is glossed over - each friend has like one character trait and we barely see them interact so none of the emotional beats hit like they're supposed to. The writing is self consciously mimicking a "classic" style but characters often speak in a strangely modern vernacular (saying, "same," to agree with someone, a character's disparaging remark about "brain cells", the character who directly quotes the Caleb Gallo "sometimes things that are expensive are worse" sketch) and most of the language around race by characters we are supposed to like came straight out of 2020.
The book makes a huge deal about pointing out racism like you might miss it in a way that felt very YA to me (the footnotes that are essentially just "that's racist" in the smuggest tone imaginable made me want to scream) but the POV characters say unexamined misogynist stuff all the time and a major plot revolves around a woman consumed by romantic jealousy in a way that made me really uncomfortable. You can tell when the author doesn't like a character and those characters are excruciating to read. There's this absurd sort of Shakesville era privilege checklist thing going on over who is allowed to be sympathetic and/or correct that is so simplistic it's embarrassing. (Eg. Ramy is an Indian Muslim so he is almost always correct when arguing with Robin, who is a white-passing Christian. You can predict the outcome of almost every conflict in the book like this, like rock paper scissors)
The magic system was cool in theory but the world was somehow almost exactly the same except that the machinery of empire is clustered together in a really small space so characters can claim a victory that somehow feels super rushed even though it was foreshadowed 500 pages before.
The lectures on language were really interesting though.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Slavery, Islamophobia, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment