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badbadwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Slavery, Child death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and War
ehmannky'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
5.0
Also,
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Colonisation, Child death, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Genocide
maelikesbooks'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? Yes
3.75
For example, Jabari’s storyline and relationship with Tau was a high point for me, and yet it still felt rushed and a little under-explored.
There is a distinctive tonal shift (I’m not really sure if tonal is the right word here) from the first book, specifically when it comes to violence. While the first book did focus a lot on combat and violence and didn’t shy away from showing messed up things (Lekan’s action at the start for example), Book 2 feels like it’s jumping into the grimdark deep end. I don’t think this is a problem, and it never feels gratuitous - but it did feel more brutal than I was expecting going into it.
Overall, this book feels like it’s doing a lot of setting up for the next installations. And while it’s not the most polished approach, it remains damn entertaining every step of the way. If this is what middle book syndrome feels like for this series, I can’t imagine how much fun the final book will be!
Graphic: Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Body horror, Genocide, and Torture
Minor: Slavery and Suicidal thoughts
noraa's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
sugarpal'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
Not in a bad way, definitely –– as a huge fan of TPW, I actually loved this book, and really enjoyed making note of the parallels. The similarities of the first books (grimdark-dark-dark atmosphere, grisly violence, themes of war and discrimination and colonialism, non-Western cultural focus, and the plot:
I do, of course, have some thoughts about this book on its own. The character work is excellent. Though Winter could easily let Tau stagnate in this book as a blindly raging avenging machine, he instead treats Tau as a human, and makes sure to show his sensitivity alongside his brutality. Tau is very self-centered, but even while stuck in his perspective, I still enjoyed reading about his relationships with his friends, and their development as individuals. (The gay rep?? We love to see it!!!) And especially for a male author, the female characters, few though they are, are strong and well written. Tsiora is my queen and she could step on me any day –– but I love that he also explores her childhood, and the darker sides of her character that anyone but her sister would be blind to. Actually, on the topic of perspective, I wasn't sure how I felt about Winter's fluid approach to POV in the first book (occasionally shifting to side characters, while still mainly staying in Tau's perspective), but I decided in this book that I definitely am a fan due to how he handled Esi and Tsiora. Being in the head of a major player we had never seen, the discomfort of reading her bigotry, and her fresh perspective on the war and on Tsiora were all very well done and added a lot to the story.
Overall, I have a few quibbles about these books –– for example, how Winter's already-few female characters seem to love sacrificing themselves (seriously, they've done that
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, and Colonisation