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ghostlyprince'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: Classism, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Child death, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: War, Ableism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Racism, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Sexism
marketa_'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
Graphic: Murder, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Trafficking, Grief, and Slavery
Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Death, Addiction, and Physical abuse
Minor: Trafficking, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Vomit
mxbluet18'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? No
5.0
alcohol consumption and recreational drug use; drugging without consent; forced and coerced drug dependency. As well as implied panic attacks and nightmares; implied coerced suicide; blood and gore depiction, graphic physical injuries, emesis, medical experimentation, dead bodies, plague, body modifications (with consent).
Grief depiction and death of a father, brother, family and friend; murder, attempted murder, physical assault, knife and gun violence, torture, strangulation, explosions. Kidnapping, drowning.
☆
☆
Realistically I picked this up three days ago and finished it in the early hours. Once I started it I didn't really put it down. It's a duology that's been sitting on my TBR list for a while, as was the Shadow and Bone series, and it took a while for me to get to them, which is something I regret. My friend recommended them to me a while ago, and I understand why they did now. I even sent them a message while I was reading saying that I understand the pull of Kaz Brekker now.
~
One thing that really stood out to me was the amount of representation in this. Both in terms of sexuality and disability and neurodivergency. There's a bisexual character and a gay character.
And Kaz walks with a cane because of a severe limp and chronic pain, as well as the leather gloves he always wears, which is somewhat discussed as being because of trauma and a resulting aversion to touch, he the flashbacks and fainting he experiences are potentially the result of PTSD from childhood trauma. And while it's not actually confirmed in the books, the descriptions make it fairly plain that Jesper probably has ADHD. He also has a gambling addiction.
~
Two other things I feel the book does really well, and I feel are written very well is flesh out the characters, give them a really rich backstory, but make their motives subtle but clear. Like for Kaz, he clearly has a reason for persuing Pekka Rollins, and his childhood was explained in segments. But it's left to the reader to connect those dots because nothing is explicitly stated.
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Trafficking, and Gun violence
Minor: Bullying and Ableism
stinkyrat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Violence, Mental illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Addiction, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Cursing
aliyachaudhry'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
3.75
Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Racism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Blood, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Gore, Child death, Sexual violence, Drug use, Police brutality, Sexual assault, and Genocide
Moderate: Torture, Sexism, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Rape
Minor: Ableism
storykath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child death, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Addiction
Moderate: Vomit, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, War, and Gore
Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, and Excrement
lavenderdolmeh'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
5.0
Moderate: Trafficking, Violence, and Physical abuse
piper_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and War
mayicka11'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
4.5
I found it a little bit pretentious at first, but I got over it in the first twenty pages (maybe it was just Kaz's introduction. And well. He is a pretentious motherfucker.)
Both the plot and characters stand out to me, the plot was gripping, fast faced but fluid. It's one of my fave tropes, too (delinquents and heists). While our characters do incredible things, it doesn't read as too much, or make you roll your eyes. The characters are charming and well rounded, the relationships between them feel natural and the dynamics suck you in.
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Classism, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Physical abuse, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Rape, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Slavery, and Sexism
rosierosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail