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kaylamoran'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
Malik has my heart and I'd die for him.
I'll definitely be checking out anything else Roseanne A. Brown writes. Everything about this felt so unique, and even the tropes didn't feel tropey. It was genuinely unpredictable, which for someone who reads as much YA fantasy as i do, can be very difficult to achieve.
Did I mention I love Malik? I love Malik.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Gaslighting, Self harm, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and War
Minor: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
internationalreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
My poor babies Karina and Malik go through so much in this story ðŸ˜
I adore this duology. All of the loose threads are wrapped up excellently and yet I still want more. The depictions of mental health struggles in particular are so well done.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Death, Grief, Body horror, Colonisation, Genocide, Emotional abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
theespressoedition'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
Sometimes, I'm terribly inconsistent with my reviews and therefore, they are a jumbled up mess of random delayed emotions and pretty much just overall confusion.
I did not want the second example to be the case with my review for this book because I absolutely adored every moment of it. In fact, it took me approximately 6x longer to finish than I had originally anticipated because I wound up just wanting to take my time with it and really immerse myself in the story.
When I'm reading a book, I like to take pictures of the quotes or write them down somewhere so I don't forget them later. Most of the time, 1-3 quotes will stand out during the course of my reading. With A Psalm of Storms and Silence, I wound up writing down 10 quotes. I'm going to include them here, because I never ever want to lose them and forget the way they impacted me. If you don't like quotes, then skip ahead.
"Sometimes people get so unnerved by their own fear, they don't realize that their response to it is worse than what they feared in the first place."
"Love shouldn't look like control"
"If you ever find someone who feels as natural to you as breathing, don't leave them. Because if you do, you'll feel as if you're gasping for air every moment after."
"Life isn't given to be deserved. It's given to be lived. If you can find one thing that makes it worth seeing another day, then you've done all you're meant to do."
"There are choices you make in life that cannot be undone and that cannot be buried. They can only be carried, and you either buckle beneath the weight of them or grow strong enough not to. And growing is always worth it if it helps you get to that next thing that makes life worth living."
"...love was more like a pebble sinking into a pond, soft as the turn of one page in a story to the next, yet the ripples of it extending outward into everything about the way he saw the world and himself."
"...a person could never truly steal something that already belonged to them."
"You call me your salvation, but I can't save you from yourself."
(There were a few that just made me laugh and I'm including those as well because I think they're just as important as the ones that impacted my heart and soul):
"'Three times I've saved your ass now, princess!' Dedele barked as they hauled themselves over the sand barge's railing. 'Luckily for you, it's quite the ass to save!' Karina screamed back."
Friends, if you have the ability to read this book, please do. Some people might cringe away from the trigger warnings and that's completely understandable. But if you can tolerate them, I highly recommend this book. I didn't think anything could pass A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, but this blew it out of the water.
One of the things that stood out to me the very most was the conversation surrounding Malik's struggle with self-harm and depression. Towards the end, he basically told someone that it was something he dealt with but that it might never go away. I appreciated that so much because often, in works of fiction, these are looked at as things that can "just be conquered and forgotten" in a sense, but that's not what happened here. It was an acknowledgement that those who trudge through depression and fight themselves in regards to self-harm might have lifelong battles and that is 100% normal and valid.
Then, of course, there's Farid and his horrible, toxic gaslighting nonsense that made me want to literally scream with fury and throw the book sometimes (but I was reading it on my phone and I didn't wanna break my phone - you know how it is). Watching both Karina and Hanane work through that - recognizing it and then individually sorting through it in different ways - was phenomenally done.
I absolutely loved the ending. Some people might get mad at it, but I think it was written perfectly. I love that it gave me a chance to run wild with my imagination.
I just can't praise this book any higher. In fact, this might be my longest review of all time. But I just... have more emotions about it than I even know what to do with right now. This one is gonna stick with me. I just know it.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Moderate: Grief and Racial slurs
yvonne_cl'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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping