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grace_9613's review
- 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
- 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
_ohheyisabella_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While some of the descriptions and names of objects/places were childish, it was fun to read. I did not need to think too hard and could relax while following along the plot with the main character. Yes, the book has its faults, but I liked it and will most likely be purchasing the next book in the series.
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Medical content
cdoubet's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Cursing, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Mental illness, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death of parent, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol
anushar's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
3/5 stars.
Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, and Blood
ladymickbeth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and War
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
I’ll be honest, I didn’t see a fair amount of the plot twists coming. Other than that, there is nothing good about this book. World didn’t feel fleshed out, writing was terrible with its sentence fragments not used very artfully, and the exposition was just dropped in, sometimes very loosely related to what’s going on at the moment and long-winded.thenovelmaura's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Anyway, there's not much to say about this book because the writing is not great, I felt no connection to the characters, and the world-building is terrible. Beyond the laughable naming conventions (Starlings, Skylings, Wildlings, Moonlights, and Nightshades [the bad ones]), it's lacking in descriptions of the island, the realms, and even the curses, which the entire plot hinges on. There was also very little action and the classic "ancient man falls for teen girl" trope.
I'm giving it 1.5 stars because it was a quick, mindless read and there's nothing inherently wrong with leaning into predictable YA fantasy tropes or using them to market your book. This book just wasn't offering anything beyond that.
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
stroop's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
sarahfr1end's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
planreadrepeat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I heard about this book in one of my book clubs but never saw it on TikTok. I knew it was review bombed and people were big mad it didn’t have scenes the author had promised among other reveals. Then the complaints it borrows from other YA series. Of course it does, they are all super similar. Young woman who is nothing special has a couple guys tripping over her in lust who eventually gains power. That’s almost always the general theme of YA fantasy and shouldn’t be a surprise.
That said, I found it a solid story. Compared to the debut novels of other YA authors, it’s right on par. Not fantastic and original but good. Still a better love story than Twilight ;)
Reading other reviews, people complained about plot holes. There were some things not fleshed out. I’d hope those are further explained in the rest of the trilogy. I didn’t expect LOTR world building and found it fine. Characters were heavily influenced from ACOTAR but the author even claims that.
So maybe the book is overhyped. But it’s definitely not a 1-star book in my opinion. It’s just a YA fantasy romance. Worth reading but not an earth-shaking piece of literature that will be read in 100 years. Still a fun read.
Moderate: Blood and Violence