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lindsaybethlyons'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: Addiction, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Trafficking, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, and Colonisation
Minor: Rape
ssjd411's review
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Police brutality, Slavery, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
frankieclc's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Racism, Drug abuse, Violence, Self harm, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: War
salemander's review
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, and Drug abuse
musebeliever's review
1.0
I really liked the idea of the two protagonists being swapped at birth and was curious about how it would play out in their lives. However, I was not at all on board with the magic system relying on a biological element. This has big chosen one and essentialism vibes, which I just could not deal with.
I also struggled with the writing style and the characterisation. The fact that we are privy to every single thought created, in my opinion, very unidimensional characters. Despite this shower of information, some of Sylah's actions just do not make sense to me, and too much of the plot relies on Sylah's poor choice or negligence. I can understand this happening once or twice, but how am I to believe that we are in the presence of the person who will overthrow an empire. This did not work for me.
I found everything very bleak, which makes sense for a dystopia, but also extremely heavy-handed. This read like YA to me, which is not my favourite writing style. The clues as to where the plot is going are underlined and surrounded by blinking lights.
I was also taken aback by the inconsistence in tone. There is a moment in the book when Sylah reminisces her tragic past while she watches the new tyrants of the Empire being chosen. She looks at one of them and thinks, "68 never looked so good." This sounded taken out of a gossip instagram reel commenting the Met gala. It felt really out of place. There were many moments like this when I was thrown off by sudden tone changes that did not match the atmosphere of a chapter. It feels like the book has not been edited.
Finally, fatphobia and foodshaming are frankly painful to read and so unnecessary. Sylah calls Anoor the lump, foodshames her, finds her dresses ridiculous because they are big. She seems to justify her fatphobia because she thinks that Anoor is fat because she is rich and privileged. This does not seem to be coherent as Anoor is mocked by her peers. The author also depicts her as a bit silly. Someone who chooses her seat in a room to have a better view on the dishes that are being served. We are clearly supposed to find that funny. Let's be serious one minute.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Body horror, Gore, Bullying, Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Murder, Slavery, Fatphobia, Genocide, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Torture, Blood, Hate crime, and Violence
poseidons_siren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence and Torture
thesinginglights's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Ableism, and Torture
mar'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
3.0
What I struggled with was the immaturity of the characters, which made it feel too much like reading a YA novel 😭 I found they got on my nerves a lot, but with time I did get a bit invested in both the slowburn romance and Anoor's success in the Aktibar, so I guess it wasn't all that bad. (Also: I adore a deadly magical competition, and with how much time was spent training for each trial it would've been nice to spend a little more time on the actual events themselves).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Violence, Colonisation, Addiction, Murder, Slavery, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Ableism, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content and Body shaming
kathyreadsalot'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
*Spoilers!* So I was a bit skeptical about this when I started. It is definitely heavy with very early mentions of
Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, War, Child abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Genocide, Murder, and Toxic friendship
zaqlovesbooks'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: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Slavery, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Torture and Child abuse