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dinushidr'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
4.75
Moderate: Death
strange'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
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Colonisation
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Torture, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Antisemitism
alaynatabor'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
4.25
Minor: Death, Xenophobia, and Murder
anika_the_reader'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? It's complicated
4.5
ππππππ: βοΈ βοΈ βοΈ βοΈ π«
ππππππππ πππππππππ: Laia
ππππ πππ: my love wonβt let you down by little mix
πππππππ ππππππππ:
Paris in 1889 is filled with magic, & some people will do anything to harness it. A group of people with various motivations must pull off an epic heist to save the world. The stunning writing brings these lovable characters to life & the plot had me on the edge of my seat. Some of the finer points of the magic system were lost on me, but that could be my own fault. If you enjoyed Six of Crows, Iβd highly recommend!
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
diifacto'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: Child abuse, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Homophobia, and Racism
starlessnights's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
alouette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
pros
- the diversity!! most of the main cast was bipoc, some were also queer, and zofia (my beloved) was on the autism spectrum. that last one was really awesome to see because rarely have i come across books about characters with ASD in which their mental disability isn't the main focus but rather just a part of their character. loved it.
- banter and character dynamics! their interactions were fun with also plenty of complexities and depth, and i was rooting for them the whole way.
- the whimsy and the magic system! while it was confusing, it was also intriguing. the puzzles they solved + the magical inventions they used were fun to follow in each individual instance, and i liked the illustrations as they made new discoveries. it helped me visualize what was happening and get more immersed.
cons
- confusing worldbuilding. the intertwining of actual history with heavy fantasy elements was interesting, but we were thrown into it with little preamble and even the baseline of the main plot got hard to follow at times. the flowery writing was lovely for my imagination but did not help when trying to understand what was actually going on.
- a lack of character development. now, i don't mean that the characters weren't plenty rounded, just that they weren't dynamic. everything about them was pre-established (again, we're thrown right into this world abruptly) and they've all known each other for years. while this made for some fun dynamics, it meant that i sensed little change in any of them by the end.
- the villian...
he really came out of nowhere and i didn't even understand what the heck his magical blood powers were. when they talked about the stealing of House Kore's ring being an inside job i was expecting some betrayals, not this weirdo... - the ending... quite rushed and disappointing.
tristan deserved so much better in terms of character development and time devoted to him, and then it felt like what happened to him was absolutely brushed past, both the trauma he suffered and then his actual demise. still don't know what the heck was up with the birds, the reveal that he was killing them was super rushed and not explored.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
bookish_otaku's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a historical novel with magical realism and a heist setting that takes place in France. It rings very similarly to Six of Crows, but it still manages to make its own path with a sturdy individualism in each character and an introcately planned heist. If anything, I think the heist aspect outplays that of Six of Crows, and the characters are more uniformly developed, however there were some things that sat strangely with me.
Laila's character has a huge interest in baking and that's made very clear from the beginning, but we never really get a look into WHY. I wish this had been deepened beyond what it was so that we could delve more into her character and so that it wouldn't seem like a random trait thought up just to make her seem more unique. It also didn't really have any important role in terms of the heist.
Worldbuilding was intriguing with the houses, but I'm still not entirely clear on how the magic system works. I know there is something called Forging that some people can do and some people can't and that it gives objects special qualities, but it's all a very vague understanding. I also know there seem to be some pretty powerful boulders (from the sounds of it, they're awfully chunky) called Babel stones? But I don't fully understand their connection to Forging. I also don't know if Sphinxes are forged statues or people or animals? That entirely escaped me and left me feeling blind in many scenes.
Along with worldbuilding, the book opens talking about these very confusing concepts that aren't really clarified later on. It also delves right into the characters and trying to understand who everyone is and how they're related is a lot while also trying to balance what's happening plotwise and what's happening with worldbuilding and magic.
But onto the good, because there was definitely a handful of that. First, representation. Six of Crows (yes I keep mentioning it I can't help it) is praised for its diversity, but I really loved how this book seemed to delve further in, touching on topics of what it's like to be mixed, or to be born in a position of power but have the "wrong" skin color, and on being Jewish and (not explicitly stated but from my understanding) autistic. Now bear in mind, I am not autistic, but I liked how Chokshi wrote Zofia's character. Incredibly bright (a math magician if I say so myself) and just wired differently in terms of social interaction, she struggles with how others percieve her as stupid and does her best to fit into a world that's deadset on labeling her an outcast, and then with her intersectionality as being Jewish. Her character is probably the best written in this first installment, and I'm excited to see her arch because I can tell there's a lot in store for her.
Enrique and his passion for history really shines in this story, and I loved how we got to peak into his insecurity with being mixed Filipino Spanish, but looking mostly Spanish. It's not a POV we see often in any literature, and I think Chokshi did a great job bringing it into the limelight, especially during the heist.
Gosh I loved all the details and thought put into the heist.
That ending. I don't know all I can say is oof. Something angsty this way comes. Although a final note that I can't label as either good or bad. Between this and SoC, there were some similarities that stuck out to me. Some I'm sure are purely coincidental, and some are probably heist tropes that will continue. I find an interesting parallel between Kaz/Inej and Severin/Laila. We have the mastermind of the heist falling in love with his right hand woman (secret weapon if you will) who hails from general South Asian heritage and has or had a job that was deemed lowly and made them some sort of commodity (Inej as a courtesan and Laila as a burlesque-ish dancer). Then there of course always has to be the LGBT+ entanglement (which is fine, three straight couples is boring but I'd love to see a happily single person who isn't dead). Actually, there always seems to be that intragroup sexual tension and people start to get paired off. I'm hoping we get a character not interested in relationships, just to change it up but they don't become some weird sort of 7th wheel. Being single and alive is fine too.
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Blood
brookey8888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Reread
The ending just hurts my feelings.
The representation in this is *chefs kiss*.
Do I understand the world and magic when Iβm reading this? Yes. Can I explain any of it? nope.
I honestly just love this for the characters and the relationships. The world is interesting and I love how the author incorporated some lesser know historical events in this(Human zoos tf is that???).
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
micheala's review against another edition
4.75
I will say that out of the six main characters, I just didn't really like Enrique all that much. He did grow on me (again) in the last third of the book, however he just wasn't a character that I vibes with. On the other hand, Zofia was probably my favourite character. I loved seeing how she interacted with the different situations and I'm hoping to see more of her POVs in the second book.
Overall I still really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to continue with the trilogy.
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Slavery