Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Hourglass Throne

This is book 3 of 9 (planned) so we got some threads tied off, but mostly seeing how introduced plot threads will eventually connect in the macro plot.

Quinn and Addam continue to be my favourite characters. I loved the character development we get for the entire found family, and especially between Addam, Rune, and Brand - watching them figure out how to keep the kids safe and happy/thriving was nice.

I would say that despite the long list of CW given by the author, this is the least graphic of the series so far. While traumatic things have been focused on each of the books, the level of discription has shifted so that it was less of a viserally unpleasant reading experience.

There was an event at the end that I'm hoping gets reversed in later books. There was also a very warm and cozy event in the epilogue that helped me feel better despite the other thing.

So far, I'm really liking this series and I'm excited to see where the rest goes.

There is an instance of misgendering - a character has recently changed their pronouns and their aunt uses the old pronoun when discussing them, and has to correct herself.

CW from author: Drugs and alcohol: depictions of narcotic side-effects, underage and non-consenual usage; Trauma and gore: PTSD / panic attacks, depictions of past events, (forced) flashbacks, torture, (suicide) bombings, child violence, blood, body horror, torn limbs, impalement, mind control; Mentions of: SA, animal death, character death, cannibalism, eye gore, COVID-19, suicide

Content Warnings

rachratesreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

The Hourglass Throne 5/5

This book was a culmination of information finally coming into fruition, whilst still leaving plenty of unanswered questions for the upcoming books to explore. Because this is book 3, it’s very hard to review without spoiling parts of the previous books, so I’m going to keep it vague.

I am always enamored with KD Edwards ability to write sincere and meaningful interactions between all of the characters. Everyone is distinct, and the relationships they build feel real. KD also manages to take grim dark themes and balance them out perfectly with humor and soft scenes. I have never read a book that executes this as well as The Tarot Sequence. If the scales were tipped even a little, I honestly don’t think I’d be able to read the story, because there are parts that are brutal and painful. But KD has managed to make a book (who’s CWs alone would typically be a Big Nope from me) become what will probably be my favorite series of the year.

As a reader, KD has officially become one of my insta-buy authors. As a writer, I can not begin to express how much I look up to him and his writing. The words “masterful in his craft” come to mind.

I’m definitely rereading (and annotating) the other two books. I’ll keep y’all posted on that journey. Under the spoiler text, I will detail the content warnings for this book. If you do not want to know the specifics, please don't click on it. CW includes sexual assault, PTSD, death, misgendering.

pg. 53: a character misgenders another character. This is not meant maliciously, and is corrected immediately. pg. 235: Rune recalls his assault, specifically using the word r*pe. pg. 260: Rune tells Addam about some of the specifics of his assault. These are all details we, as the reader, learned in book 1. Beginning at pg. 235 until ~ pg. 390, Rune and Addam are caught in a time loop and sent back to the day the Sun Court was attacked. While they don't actually see what happened to Past!Rune, they know it is happening in the neighboring building. It's still very unsettling and Rune has some PTSD reactions.

Content Warnings

jjjreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

Content Warnings

quirkykayleetam's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTd7y2M2p/?k=1

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fuguefire's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Loved this book, great addition to the series!! Couldn’t put it down.

Content Warnings

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don’t even know where to begin, other then that this is the most emotionally devastating book I’ve read all year. This one made me cry, it had my heart hurting in ways that I’ve never felt for a book before, and I’m pretty sure this book has cemented its place as my favorite book of the year. I honestly don’t have the words for a more coherent review. This is a solid five star book and if you haven’t read the series yet…please do. It’s one of the best that I’ve ever read.

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