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panic_at_the_bookshelf'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
5.0
As soon as I finished the book I longed for the next one in the breathtaking The Ending Fire trilogy. The characters either made me love or hate them because of how human they felt. The hate did not come from finding it an annoying character. The characters were written out so well I despised them because of their horrible actions and/or beliefs. As if I was part of the story and ready to take them down. Each character had their strengths AND their flaws.
This is not a typical female hero story. This is a story of pain, sadness and fighting a system filled with lies and dirty secrets to oppress the native people of the land. This is a story filled with fire, passion and dedication. It's filled with friendship and love. Most of all, it's filled with the courage one needs to stand up against a system of oppression.
I do hope any person who is currently facing said oppression will find their well deserved freedom one day. May there be an ending fire to those who colonised and colonise. May we find the courage to stand up to any twisted system.
Thank you, Saara, for refuelling my fire to raise my voice and find my inner Sylah, Hassa and Anoor.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Addiction, Violence, Racism, Murder, Drug use, and Blood
Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
mar'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
3.0
What I struggled with was the immaturity of the characters, which made it feel too much like reading a YA novel 😠I found they got on my nerves a lot, but with time I did get a bit invested in both the slowburn romance and Anoor's success in the Aktibar, so I guess it wasn't all that bad. (Also: I adore a deadly magical competition, and with how much time was spent training for each trial it would've been nice to spend a little more time on the actual events themselves).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Violence, Colonisation, Addiction, Murder, Slavery, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Ableism, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content and Body shaming
ewinnk'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
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Classism
kathyreadsalot'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? Yes
4.0
*Spoilers!* So I was a bit skeptical about this when I started. It is definitely heavy with very early mentions of
Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, War, Child abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Genocide, Murder, and Toxic friendship
barda'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? Yes
3.75
I broadly liked the charactres, with Hassa being a standout in particular. I do wish she had more POV, but she was a delightfully mysterious character and her friendship with Sylah was heartwarming. The autocratic world that the author created was also very interesting, if not the most unique; I found that the twist regarding the map really opened up the world more and makes me eager to learn more in the next book.
In terms of what I didn't like, it's a pet peeve of mine when the author switches POV's multiple times in one chapter with no breaks in between characters, and this book has tons of it. It also had some random characters that had only one or two POV's in the whole book and these seemed unnecessary. The romance(s) also seemed very abrupt and tacked on, and I wonder if the book would actually do better by removing romance entirely (though the book was very good at developing the overall friendship between Anoor and Sylah, if not the romance aspect). I also found the tone at times to be a bit too grimdark for my tastes; I can completely understand why the author wanted to show the horrors of slavery and discrimination, but the inclusion of sometimes graphic descriptions of death and torture made the happier moments between characters seem incongruous.
Overall, it was an interesting book to read and will be reading the next one, but I do hope that the issues with multiple POV's in particular are fixed in the next instalment.
Graphic: Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, Drug abuse, Addiction, Self harm, and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, War, Vomit, Sexual content, and Rape
avisreadsandreads'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
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Confinement, Gore, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming
bookstarbri'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
2.75
Graphic: War, Slavery, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Self harm
Minor: Rape
caseythereader'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
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child death, Medical content, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content
cg1256'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: Addiction, Murder, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Hate crime
Minor: Kidnapping and Death of parent
lycanhood'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder