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hannahwhiteyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Infidelity, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Torture
This book was such a slow burn! I was hoping forcatmac15'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
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Misogyny
Minor: Fatphobia
ali_debookness'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
Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction
katvou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: War, Murder, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Deadnaming, Animal death, Addiction, Drug use, and Grief
aklovekorn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, and War
threebluesocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Other positive aspects of this book in no particular order: dragons!!!, Nikolai being both very noble and incredibly baby, nice twin/sibling/family motif, the Fjerdan miracle thing is so funny to me, David is top tier cute in this one, the Darkling continues to make me seethe with rage and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, aaaaand putting Hanne here once more because I am in love :)
The only major issue I had with this book (and King of Scars since I'm probably not going to put a separate review on it) was the mechanics of jurda parem. Maybe it's because this book has a different strain than what we saw in SoC/CK and it just wasn't well explained, but I feel like it works completely differently in this duology than what we saw with Nina in SoC. Obviously it's not ideal to be dosed with it as a Grisha since withdrawal is likely to kill you and you'll do pretty much anything for another dose, but it shouldn't introduce any immediate suggestibility in a person until the high begins to wear off, right?
Anyway, smaller list of bits I wasn't thrilled with: lots of characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy that I really needed more information about up-front since I haven't read that trilogy in about 3 years, I don't think having whole chapters from the Darkling's perspective was great for his perceived threat level (when I can see inside his head he's just... a guy), I continue to wish Novyi Zem had any sort of major appearance in these books considering how massive it is especially since Shu Han finally got some attention, and I would really like to see Zoya figure out other Grisha powers a bit more (and maybe share this knowledge??? Girl, there are other people who could benefit from expanding their horizons, please share).
Graphic: Addiction and War
Moderate: Death and Suicide
Minor: Dysphoria
the_paperbackprincess'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Suicide, Death, Confinement, and War
Minor: Rape
Medical Experimentationnora_knight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Racism
meg_elyse'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
Graphic: Grief, War, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Rape, and Religious bigotry
claudiamacpherson'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
The shining star of this book was the relationships.
To be honest, I wish Bardugo had come up with a new antagonist instead of bringing the Darkling back (I liked how his death in <i>Ruin and Rising</i> was very similar to Lord Voldemort’s in <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i>: it was almost anticlimactic in that it felt like a very final, mortal end for a character that had been essentially immortal), but since we got him, I thought Bardugo did a good job with the ending.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault