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injiofthebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, War, Addiction, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Sexism
faith_d's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
For me, this book was an emotional roller coaster. Love the character development, how everything worked out in the end (in ways I never expected)!
It left you on a slight cliffhanger where the author has the option too write where she left off if she chooses too. Amazing book, amazing series, amazing author!
It left you on a slight cliffhanger where the author has the option too write where she left off if she chooses too. Amazing book, amazing series, amazing author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Blood, Violence, War, Misogyny, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Grief
sammymilfort's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, and War
jupitermond's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Body horror
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-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
3.0
Well, if you thought King of Scars had too much going on, this book has all those plot lines and piles on a few more for good measure. Let's be real, the whole thing was pure fan service. And as a fan, I was satisfied. As book reviewer who actually cares about things like plot... that Six of Crows sequence was unnecessary. The scene with Mal and Alina was unnecessary. A lot of the book was unnecessary, to be honest. I really disliked the choice Bardugo made in bringing the Darkling back. Talk about a fan service choice so that a terrible character can get a redemption arc that he didn't need.
There were obviously good moments—from strong character development to amazing action scenes—or I wouldn't be giving this book 3 stars. Was I entertained? Of course. Will I miss these characters and the wonderous Grishaverse? With all my heart. Was this Bardugo's best work? Not by a country mile.
There were obviously good moments—from strong character development to amazing action scenes—or I wouldn't be giving this book 3 stars. Was I entertained? Of course. Will I miss these characters and the wonderous Grishaverse? With all my heart. Was this Bardugo's best work? Not by a country mile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
therese_nook68's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Murder
ehmannky's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
Much better than the King of Scars (which wasn't bad, just took much longer for me to get into). It's a long read, but I felt that all of the POV's came together nicely, loved the themes of growing past your trauma and learning to be loved and the comfort that community brings, and Zoya and Nikolai's romance was 10/10. I think that despite this being like *~Nikolai's duology~*, it was really Zoya's, and I'm fine with that since I am a sucker for prickly and angry female characters. I do think there was a lot going on in this book, but unlike the previous book, I think I was okay with all of it. Like, maybe Nina's chapters could have been their own book, but I don't know. I think it worked here.
I think really my only complaint was the Darkling's chapters. I don't know if I particularly believe the inclusion of him brought much to this duology and I think a lot of the things Bardugo uses him for could have been accomplished with another character or something else. Like, I get the idea of her characters working beyond their trauma from him and I think narratively they did need to heal from the damage he did to them. But did he have to physically be there for them to do that??? I liked the focus on people really taking stock of the pain he did to them and their loved ones and really reckoning with his abuse, and trying to recover from that, I just don't know if he needed to be there as a character. I will say that a lot of reviews seem to be like "she's scolding us for liking the Darkling!!!" when this duology feels a lot more like, "hey, let's focus on the victims of the abuse and their trauma and how they're recovering from that."
I think really my only complaint was the Darkling's chapters. I don't know if I particularly believe the inclusion of him brought much to this duology and I think a lot of the things Bardugo uses him for could have been accomplished with another character or something else. Like, I get the idea of her characters working beyond their trauma from him and I think narratively they did need to heal from the damage he did to them. But did he have to physically be there for them to do that??? I liked the focus on people really taking stock of the pain he did to them and their loved ones and really reckoning with his abuse, and trying to recover from that, I just don't know if he needed to be there as a character. I will say that a lot of reviews seem to be like "she's scolding us for liking the Darkling!!!" when this duology feels a lot more like, "hey, let's focus on the victims of the abuse and their trauma and how they're recovering from that."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Drug use, War, Death, Forced institutionalization, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Sexism
catmac15's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
One of my fav grishaverse books! so many things happened in these book and emotions were all over the place. Love the couples featured in this book and the backstories (especially zoya). The book kind of leaves off with the potential of it being continued (idk if it actually will though)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Misogyny
Minor: Fatphobia
chenoa_mn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
blueberry0531's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Death
Moderate: War and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault