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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was middle of the road for me. Though this book was early in Schwab’s career, she already had the beautiful writing down pact. Lots of amazing descriptions, this book was very immersive. It was a super interesting concept as well that I found fascinating.
However, everything felt a bit rushed. We would meet a character and then a chapter later, they would be killed. The ending also felt very rushed as well, people were dropping like flies. I just felt like maybe we could have cut out some of the purple prose to flesh out the characters a little bit more.
I honestly found a lot of the more minor characters more interesting than Lila and Kell, who felt kind of cardboard-cut-out-esque in a way. They just felt very basic, they had their one character trait and that was that. But a lot of the other minor characters were way more complex and fascinating, morally gray. Yet we would only get them for a chapter or two.
So yup, just middle of the road for me. Schwab is starting to hone her craft here with her beautiful descriptions and vivid world building, the main characters just needed a little bit more fleshing out and the pacing to not be so rushed.
However, everything felt a bit rushed. We would meet a character and then a chapter later, they would be killed. The ending also felt very rushed as well, people were dropping like flies. I just felt like maybe we could have cut out some of the purple prose to flesh out the characters a little bit more.
I honestly found a lot of the more minor characters more interesting than Lila and Kell, who felt kind of cardboard-cut-out-esque in a way. They just felt very basic, they had their one character trait and that was that. But a lot of the other minor characters were way more complex and fascinating, morally gray. Yet we would only get them for a chapter or two.
So yup, just middle of the road for me. Schwab is starting to hone her craft here with her beautiful descriptions and vivid world building, the main characters just needed a little bit more fleshing out and the pacing to not be so rushed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Torture, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
faitherslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Self harm, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Blood
parkyparkpark's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, and Abandonment
thefebruaryfriday's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK AND ALL THE CHARACTERS!! I think that was great for the first book of the year. It made me tense anxious all the time, the twists and turns of the story surprised me every time and I really impressed.
It was great for the first book in a fantasy series, I felt like it was more focused on explaining the world and how the magic works instead of the characters but it doesn't mean we don't get great-built characters, it just means that we hope we can know more about them in the next books, see their relationship grow even more and see a bigger development.
The plot was also great, it got me hooked from the begging, I loved the short chapters, it really makes me wanna read more and V.E. Schwab's writing also helps because it made me care so much about the story and not the outside world and the time passing, I could only focus on Kell's story and I felt immersed by it. It was like breathing, you do it unconsciously but it's extremely important to you, you can't stop.
It was great for the first book in a fantasy series, I felt like it was more focused on explaining the world and how the magic works instead of the characters but it doesn't mean we don't get great-built characters, it just means that we hope we can know more about them in the next books, see their relationship grow even more and see a bigger development.
The plot was also great, it got me hooked from the begging, I loved the short chapters, it really makes me wanna read more and V.E. Schwab's writing also helps because it made me care so much about the story and not the outside world and the time passing, I could only focus on Kell's story and I felt immersed by it. It was like breathing, you do it unconsciously but it's extremely important to you, you can't stop.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Slavery
kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault
alicew4k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Death
msradiosilence's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Grief, Slavery, Blood, Classism, Gore, and Torture
antoniarachael28's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Let me start by saying this book is good. Really good even. It's definitely enjoyable. But I just don't love it, and I don't really know why.
The characters are simple, but they still have motivations that make sense, and they're deep enough to be believable. The plot had a habit of introducing information in weird ways - either just in time to be useful or just after the reader was surprised by something. Sometimes, an explanation in the text (that was very tell-y) would leave out a detail and then only provide it later after a twist happened that the reader might have expected if we'd had that info. That kind of thing.
But it's fun and quick and light if that's what you're looking for in a book. I just was expecting something more after all of the hype.
Characters - 7
Plot - 8
Setting - 9
General appeal - 7
Writing style - 7
Originality - 9
Ending - 6
The characters are simple, but they still have motivations that make sense, and they're deep enough to be believable. The plot had a habit of introducing information in weird ways - either just in time to be useful or just after the reader was surprised by something. Sometimes, an explanation in the text (that was very tell-y) would leave out a detail and then only provide it later after a twist happened that the reader might have expected if we'd had that info. That kind of thing.
But it's fun and quick and light if that's what you're looking for in a book. I just was expecting something more after all of the hype.
Characters - 7
Plot - 8
Setting - 9
General appeal - 7
Writing style - 7
Originality - 9
Ending - 6
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape
robin_15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore