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kenziekat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Physical abuse and Injury/Injury detail
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Blood
battysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Sexual assault, Classism, Rape, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, and Blood
book_hydra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
annedroid_muppet's review against another edition
When a book uses the term “less ghosts” I automatically get annoyed and lose interest. That means that the author didn’t notice and the editors didn’t notice!! That’s lazy!! My goodness this book is boring!!! On top of that there is an excessive amount sexual assault and the old girl from the wrong side of the tracks with weird hair and tattoos meets straight laced mysteriously ripped nerd guy who hates her at first but then finds her irresistible. Bleh!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Rape
This book is dark. It details a twelve year old girl getting sexually assaulted in a bathroom and then later that girl gets accosted by her mentor. I think that there’s another assault later in the book but quit before that point. Did I mention it’s boring and has grammar errors!?!celah's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Rape, Drug use, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
uncica's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
This book is right up my alley. I really enjoyed it and would have given it 4.5/5 ⭐️ had it not been for the last chapter or so. I didn't (and still don't) quite understand how Darlington had become a demon and, more importantly, how Alex had arrived at this conclusion. It felt like Bardugo was trying maybe a bit too hard to leave an opening for a sequel (which has been published, of course). I believe I would've liked the story better had it ended without Darlington surviving and becoming a demon (or something??). That being said, I still plan on reading the next book in the series.
Otherwise, it's a really interesting story with a couple of mysteries, multi-faceted characters, and a solid magic system. I particularly like how Bardugo incorporated her fictional world within the real-life New Haven/Yale campus. She played off Yale's real-world secret societies quite well. Bardugo also made it difficult to predict the resolution.
Would recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy and mysteries.
Quotes:
Otherwise, it's a really interesting story with a couple of mysteries, multi-faceted characters, and a solid magic system. I particularly like how Bardugo incorporated her fictional world within the real-life New Haven/Yale campus. She played off Yale's real-world secret societies quite well. Bardugo also made it difficult to predict the resolution.
Would recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy and mysteries.
Quotes:
He didn’t know how precious a normal life could be, how easy it was to drift away from average. You started sleeping until noon, skipped one class, one day of school, lost one job, then another, forgot the way that normal people did things. You lost the language of ordinary life. And then, without meaning to, you crossed into a country from which you couldn’t return. You lived in a state where the ground always seemed to be slipping from beneath your feet, with no way back to someplace solid.
Death words could be anything, really, as long as they spoke of the things Grays feared most—the finality of passing, a life without legacy, the emptiness of the hereafter.
Peace was like any high. It couldn’t last. It was an illusion, something that could be interrupted in a moment and lost forever. Only two things kept you safe: money and power.
...harmless people high on nothing more than their own pretensions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Drug use, Addiction, Murder, Blood, Death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
manou_r's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death, and Sexual violence
ftideman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
It took me a few chapters to get into the book, especially as so much is thrown at you and it's so far from her other books, but by halfway I was hooked. It was SO dark and the author really went the distance but I appreciated it for the story. Definitely not YA like her other work, it's firmly adult. Can't wait to read the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault
kileyjojo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warning: This book depicts several sexual assault scenes in detail.
This was a fun read. It was a little difficult to get into in the beginning but the middle to end was super suspenseful and interesting. The ending felt like it fumbled the ball just a bit but overall I enjoyed the book. It takes a while to get into it but the payoff is worth it. If you like realistic fantasy and the paranormal, this is the read.
In terms of the content warning, a lot of the SA scenes feel very rushed and used only for shock value. In the moment, they are relevant but they seem to just disappear and never have any other message behind them when all is said and done. They are all very shocking and it makes it very difficult to want to continue the read.
This was a fun read. It was a little difficult to get into in the beginning but the middle to end was super suspenseful and interesting. The ending felt like it fumbled the ball just a bit but overall I enjoyed the book. It takes a while to get into it but the payoff is worth it. If you like realistic fantasy and the paranormal, this is the read.
In terms of the content warning, a lot of the SA scenes feel very rushed and used only for shock value. In the moment, they are relevant but they seem to just disappear and never have any other message behind them when all is said and done. They are all very shocking and it makes it very difficult to want to continue the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Grief, Sexual assault, Drug use, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Pedophilia, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Excrement, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship