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axolotlhappy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide and Murder
aunteaandbiscuits's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A slow set up that leads to a much more exciting sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, Blood, and Alcoholism
anitaxlit's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I'm so sad to say that this book was definitely not for me, and I'm so disappointed because I wanted to love it!
On the first hundred pages I thought it was bad, but that perhaps it was simply due to poor translation work. By page 200 I concluded that sadly, both the translation and the writing were poor. The translation reads stunted and awkward on every page. The writing was bad because of... everything else.
First off, it was sexist. Slut-shaming abounds. Women are treated like shit. There is one comment — completely out of the blue, with no reason whatsoever — about a miscarriage that I found triggering even if the topic isn't normally triggering for me. I found the book generally insensitive toward women.
I've seen other reviews mention this and I must repeat it myself: the author gives each character a defining trait and mentions it every chance she gets. The fact that Ophelia, the MC, is clumsy and sickly is repeated non-stop thorughout the book. Whenever Thorn is mentioned, there is a remark on how tall he is. With Berenilde, it's her golden curls and beauty. With Rosaline, the horse's teeth. With Gail, the black hair. With Fox, the red moustache. These things are mentioned every single time one of the characters does something.
They are also completely devoid of any personality, sense or emotion. Berenilde was so confusing, I really couldn't understand her. Archibald was the most consistent of all? I think?
Ophelia has no emotional reactions to the horrible things that happen to her, and there's a lot of those! She encounters things which should be a complete cultural shock and barely reacts. Also, she can "read" objects to know things about their previous owners and travel through mirrors (which is so, so cool!!), but she never takes any advantage of that. I totally forgot about the mirror thing for like a hundred pages, and the saga is called The Mirror Visitor!
And the "romance"... Thorn says he's getting used to her and immediately Ophelia deduces that he's in love with her.
Girl what.
You need to sit down.
You need to take several seats.
And this is not simply the character being naive, the author seems to be pointing us in that direction! How can I believe he loves her when they haven't had any meaningful interactions at all?
What's most frustrating is that this had the potential to be great! The premise is amazing! The world it presents is cool! The plot is intriguing and it has one (1) twist that I liked! But the execution was done poorly, and it took away from the enjoyment I might have found in these things. So yeah, I'm sad about this.
On the first hundred pages I thought it was bad, but that perhaps it was simply due to poor translation work. By page 200 I concluded that sadly, both the translation and the writing were poor. The translation reads stunted and awkward on every page. The writing was bad because of... everything else.
First off, it was sexist. Slut-shaming abounds. Women are treated like shit. There is one comment — completely out of the blue, with no reason whatsoever — about a miscarriage that I found triggering even if the topic isn't normally triggering for me. I found the book generally insensitive toward women.
I've seen other reviews mention this and I must repeat it myself: the author gives each character a defining trait and mentions it every chance she gets. The fact that Ophelia, the MC, is clumsy and sickly is repeated non-stop thorughout the book. Whenever Thorn is mentioned, there is a remark on how tall he is. With Berenilde, it's her golden curls and beauty. With Rosaline, the horse's teeth. With Gail, the black hair. With Fox, the red moustache. These things are mentioned every single time one of the characters does something.
They are also completely devoid of any personality, sense or emotion. Berenilde was so confusing, I really couldn't understand her. Archibald was the most consistent of all? I think?
Ophelia has no emotional reactions to the horrible things that happen to her, and there's a lot of those! She encounters things which should be a complete cultural shock and barely reacts. Also, she can "read" objects to know things about their previous owners and travel through mirrors (which is so, so cool!!), but she never takes any advantage of that. I totally forgot about the mirror thing for like a hundred pages, and the saga is called The Mirror Visitor!
And the "romance"... Thorn says he's getting used to her and immediately Ophelia deduces that he's in love with her.
Girl what.
You need to sit down.
You need to take several seats.
And this is not simply the character being naive, the author seems to be pointing us in that direction! How can I believe he loves her when they haven't had any meaningful interactions at all?
What's most frustrating is that this had the potential to be great! The premise is amazing! The world it presents is cool! The plot is intriguing and it has one (1) twist that I liked! But the execution was done poorly, and it took away from the enjoyment I might have found in these things. So yeah, I'm sad about this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Torture
Moderate: Miscarriage and Sexism
plantbasedbride's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read this in French (which is my second language and I am RUSTY) so I'm sure I missed some nuance here, but I really enjoyed this fantasy novel!
Ophélie, our main character, has potential (and an awesome magical scarf) but is not as well developed as I would have liked. This isn't just a problem with our protagonist but goes for all of the characters in the book. I hope the next installment dives deeper into the complexities of their personalities!
The pacing is SLOW and there's not a lot of plot, but the world-building and magic systems are fascinating and I was invested the whole way through.
J'ai hâte de lire le prochain livre de la série quand j'en aurai le temps!
Ophélie, our main character, has potential (and an awesome magical scarf) but is not as well developed as I would have liked. This isn't just a problem with our protagonist but goes for all of the characters in the book. I hope the next installment dives deeper into the complexities of their personalities!
The pacing is SLOW and there's not a lot of plot, but the world-building and magic systems are fascinating and I was invested the whole way through.
J'ai hâte de lire le prochain livre de la série quand j'en aurai le temps!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence
arranged/forced marriageghiblies's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed this a lot. The world building and magic system are seriously cool and I finished the book wishing we had gotten more of this. For me this is 3 stars because I found the ending somewhat underwhelming. I suppose a nicer way to put it is that we’re left with one hell of a cliffhanger, but in short you wouldn’t be able to read this as a stand-alone, which is a shame since the universe itself is such a strong selling point for this book.
As for our protagonists, I really like them, but oh boy, they really do put the slow in slow burn. Ophelia wasn't my favourite of the two but I found her blossoming love and respect for her aunt very heart-warming and I hope this relationship doesn’t fade into the background. I was personally more intrigued by Thorn, who was left as a very enigmatic character even by the end of the book. I will say, their relationship jumped back and forth quite dramatically which I am... scratching my head at a little... The reason for their conflict perhaps feels a little weak considering how pragmatic they both are, but hopefully as they get to know each other better these misunderstandings will be cleared up. (And do I love me some miscommunication and misunderstandings in my stories *rubs hands together gleefully*)
To close, I am looking forward to reading the sequel. I am equally as invested in uncovering the fate of our protagonists as I am in learning more about this universe and its magics!
As for our protagonists, I really like them, but oh boy, they really do put the slow in slow burn. Ophelia wasn't my favourite of the two but I found her blossoming love and respect for her aunt very heart-warming and I hope this relationship doesn’t fade into the background. I was personally more intrigued by Thorn, who was left as a very enigmatic character even by the end of the book. I will say, their relationship jumped back and forth quite dramatically which I am... scratching my head at a little... The reason for their conflict perhaps feels a little weak considering how pragmatic they both are, but hopefully as they get to know each other better these misunderstandings will be cleared up. (And do I love me some miscommunication and misunderstandings in my stories *rubs hands together gleefully*)
To close, I am looking forward to reading the sequel. I am equally as invested in uncovering the fate of our protagonists as I am in learning more about this universe and its magics!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Infidelity
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