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jcruppert's review
- 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: Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gore, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Animal death, Classism, War, Death, Physical abuse, and Self harm
vdspreads's review
- 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
The commentary on religious zealots and government policy is front and center in this adventure that leads to rebellion. Other themes include racism with supremacy, misogyny, and sexuality. Forest's storytelling combines all these through the lens of discovery for Elloren, her siblings, and friends.
Graphic: Bullying, Xenophobia, Torture, Slavery, Misogyny, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and Racism
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Homophobia
crystalsparkles'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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Slavery, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Bullying, Death of parent, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Racism, War, Murder, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Genocide, and Medical trauma
jla's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
This book was so good, I finished it in one day. The world building was amazing. The characters and relationships were multidimensional. There are a lot of important topics like racism, slavery, homophobia, force institutionalization, genocide, religious zealotry, gendercide, differing cultural narratives, bias, patriarchy, and oppression. I can't wait to continue the series. It's been a long time since I was sucked into a book like this.
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Addiction, Misogyny, Racism, War, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Genocide
intothestarrysea'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
3.5
It started out really rough (I mean, the MC is super privileged and doesn’t realize her race are Nazis), but I’m surprised at the character growth. Elleoren seldom has the “right” reaction and makes a lot of mistakes, but she grows.
Still not a fan of the author’s writing style though. I really wanted to edit this one.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Slavery, Homophobia, Colonisation, Bullying, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Racism
frantically's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Addiction, Religious bigotry, Self harm, War, Bullying, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Murder, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
koistyfishy's review
- 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
4.5
I recently watched an interview with two authors and they touched on the topic about the main differences between writing for YA and writing for Adults and one aspect stuck with me that I absolutely loved. It stuck because to me it’s the quintessential line between the two and ultimately is the essence of this book and what makes this book so strong and striking to read.
The main aspect in YA is it’s about firsts: first kisses, first relationships and first experience. It’s also about taking those first major steps at finding who you are as a person as you live through these experiences.
There is a simple quote from this book that stands out to me in its simplicity as it reinforces this aspect of firsts and really emphasised how characters can change as they learn the about world for themselves…
“I’m sorry” I murder. “I’m sorry I was so ignorant…and wrong when I first came here”
I am not going to lie and say this was an easy book as there are moments in this book that are difficult to read. There were times I gasped out loud at outrage and had to put the book down for a moment to let the moments sink in. There were also times when I was incredibly angry at what I was reading… but I appreciate that the author did not shy away from describing atrocities or behaviour… so many authors ignore or don’t touch on it enough and knowing what we have in our own tainted history of the Holocaust and Apartheid and what horrendous acts occurred when racial and religious purity is concerned…real people are terrifying and not shying away from that in a book should be commended not punished.
What I didn’t like about this book is that it took very long to get to the end and the major action was the last few pages… it was very slice of lifey in aspects and I wasn’t sure where the plot was going until about 3/4 quarters into the book.
Overall very good book and happy to have picked it up… stepping right into book 2.
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Xenophobia
bookishfaye's review
I went into this expecting something really fun & epic & witches and warlocks and dragons and werewolves & elves and fae & a magic school & that sounded like fucking eeevverrything but…. Dear god did this one ever take a turn…
The first hundred pages it became clear that this was going to be a story about realizing your people are the bad ones and you’ve been lied too; it was kinda vague in the early stages and that can go a lot of ways & mean a lot of things so I was like period okay okay let’s see where the author goes with this. The next 100 pages then showcase the most vile metaphors for racism that mirror our world but in a fantasy world in ways that are so incredibly fucking odd & obviously written by a white person?? Like the white coded/white saviour protagonist is wildly sheltered and naive and doesn’t understand why so many people hate her and are terrified of her (though the audience catches on real quick that it’s because they are oppressed by her people/family etc). In one scene, she is pushed by a child of one of the mixed races who then refers to her as a “black roach” & the whitecoded MC “flinches at the racial insult” & I- …. What the fuck???? Also the main army in this book is absolutely coded to be the nazi regime down to the symbol on the uniforms. I just don’t care to see where this author is going with this story, because at this point it is clear to me she didn’t do the proper research to go about representing things with grace and is talking about things that she doesn’t understand & being fucking disrespectful about it. This is not even including the homophobic coded world of women needing to be “wandmated” to a male love interest while they are still children, & if they don’t remain faithful to this pairing they are whipped & put into like… slavery??? Also the 2014 era girl on girl hatred is just eyeroll. This is just an incredibly strange and disgusting way to go about representing racism.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Confinement, Antisemitism, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Racial slurs, and Slavery
ka_ke's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
People like to say the Deadly Education or Zodiac Academy series are adult Harry Potter, but I think the Black Witch Chronicles are a better comparison.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Slavery, Trafficking, Bullying, Xenophobia, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Grief, Racial slurs, Violence, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and War
Minor: Death of parent
rini's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Terminal illness, and War
Minor: Ableism, Death, and Death of parent