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hanz'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
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, and Grief
emilypete17's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
miak2'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
One more life saved. It was a pittance, unutterably small against the scale of the lives lost. But it was there. And one life certainly made a difference to the one living it. p. 35
I know this is a relatively new book, but I'm upset more people haven't read it yet because I'm in desperate need of fanart.
This book started off a little slow. Although I grew to love the different perspectives, it made it hard at first to get invested in any of the character arcs. However, once they took of, they really took off. I'll break down my review by arc, but I want to say that the writing is really well done. Beautiful style, but not so dense that it slowed down my reading.
Lin: Hers ended up being my favorite storyline despite its slow start. It's chalked full of action and twists. The bone shard magic, which is most fully explored in this arc, is really interesting. I wish Lin herself were a little better developed, however. Her backstory is super interesting, but I felt like her personality was fairly generic female protagonist. (view spoiler)
Jovis: *sigh* I love this idiot. Definitely gave me Jesper (Six of Crows) vibes in the best way. His companionship with Mephi is super wholesome. Although his arc is action-packed, it's filled with great character moments as well.
Phalue and Ranami: I love these two. I love their relationship. I love their struggles. I loved hearing both of their perspectives on the realities of the lower class, Phalue having grown up as the governor's daughter and Ranami as a 'gutter orphan.'
Sand: This one was quite the change of pace. Like Sand, the reader has no idea what's going on, but it has really interesting implications in the overarching plot.
Phew, okay that was a lot. This book was a lot of fun and I'm really excited to see where the series goes. Unlike other first-books, I thought it tied up a lot of loose ends. There's absolutely room for more to happen, but I expect the following books to be a pretty dramatic change of pace.
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Gore
lavendera_'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
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Gore, Torture, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, and Kidnapping
ticktock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
aliyyah'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
4.0
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Death and Murder
redthistle'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Confinement
aardwyrm'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: Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Animal death
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
- There are a pretty big number of POV characters, and each time a chapter ended I was like "no wait, what's next!" but then got immediately engrossed by whoever else we were returning to.
- This is also a queernorm world, with a F/F relationship between two of the main characters.
- I did see the big reveal coming, but that didn't make the story any less gripping - if anything, I was reading faster to see how it all turned out. Give me book two now!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
entazis's review
- 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
The story explores the ideas of free will, identity and agency. It also talks about corrupt governments and revolutions. Of loneliness and grief. It plays with old tropes (the smuggler, the missing wife, the mad scientist who is also a tyrant, the princess in the tower) and gives us something new which I specifically liked. And while I guessed something important from the beginning, the way character came to the answers was fun, giving us important worldbuilding blocks, and there was still something that managed to surprise me.
All in all, a lot of fun with a weird world where constructs of dead animal bodies walk around governing people.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Gore and Grief