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greystory's review
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- 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
2.5-3 stars
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
bronzel's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
thereadingmarshmallow's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The book has a good base. The story is there, the plot is there, and the characters work. My main issue with this book is that nothing is fully explained. The FMC has decent development but the world building isn’t there like I would like for it to be. I don’t feel as though I can engage with the book like I want to because I don’t understand what’s fully going on, what their struggle is like.
That being said, I enjoy the plot and it was consumable. It took me a bit longer to get through it because I didn’t feel as engaged as I would like.
That being said, I enjoy the plot and it was consumable. It took me a bit longer to get through it because I didn’t feel as engaged as I would like.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Toxic friendship
mythian's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
faduma's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Confinement, and Violence
cdoubet's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
sydneyluxford's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
Woah. What the hell. That ending 😃. Very unexpected.
I knew there would be a betrayal at some point, BUT I DIDN’T EXPECT IT TO BE CELESTE. But now it just makes so much sense.
It’s obvious how the love triangle is going to end in future books, but I truly don’t know who I prefer Isla with more. Because I really love Oro,and I love Grim until he lowkey betrayed her??? But IDK. I low-key (high-key) have a crush on both of them, they’re so different but so so fine.
This book does not deserve the hate that people on TikTok are giving it. They’re hating on it for it not including scenes that Aster said would be in it, but they’re also acting like this book didn’t go through an editing process like every other traditionally published book. Like, get a life if you’re hating on a book you haven’t even read 😭.
I have to admit, that I didn’t fully connect with this book and there were moments where I was bored, but I think that’s down to the fact that I am not the targeted reader for this book. I’m seventeen, and the target audience is probably for those age twelve to fifteen, at least that’s what I gather from the writing style and other aspects of the book. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book though, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
It’s obvious how the love triangle is going to end in future books, but I truly don’t know who I prefer Isla with more. Because I really love Oro,
This book does not deserve the hate that people on TikTok are giving it. They’re hating on it for it not including scenes that Aster said would be in it, but they’re also acting like this book didn’t go through an editing process like every other traditionally published book. Like, get a life if you’re hating on a book you haven’t even read 😭.
I have to admit, that I didn’t fully connect with this book and there were moments where I was bored, but I think that’s down to the fact that I am not the targeted reader for this book. I’m seventeen, and the target audience is probably for those age twelve to fifteen, at least that’s what I gather from the writing style and other aspects of the book. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book though, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
kaetheluise_nckl's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, and War
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