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tinysierra's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
-Enemies to Lovers (knife to throat!!)
-Forced Proximity
-Reluctant Allies
-Fake Dating (kinda?)
Based on the TikTok hype and the sypnosis, I assumed that this would be a high stakes, fast paced adventure similar to Six of Crows and Guilded Wolves. While there was a bit of an adventure in the first few chapters, the book overall was slow paced, focused on characters, family, romance and politics. It was more akin to Graceling.
The title was fitting. It felt like a dance or a game being played between the main characters. We get both Kazi and Jase’s POVs, which was a nice setup for the story.
I have a soft spot for thieves with angsty backstories so I loved Kazi. I liked the way that she came up with riddles.
The romance was well done. It felt like it developed a bit fast but it made sense considering the forced proximity, and they continue to develop their feelings over the rest of the book.
The fatal flaw of the book for me was the amount of telling instead of showing.
It ends on a cliffhanger but I personally will be ignoring the last chapter and will not be reading the next book.
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Death, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Classism, Trafficking, and Torture
Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, and Miscarriage
hales_1243's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Trafficking
thebookwhale's review
4.75
Kazi is one of the best FMC I've ever read. She reminded me of Katniss sometimes and I fell in love with her. I feel like I know her because her flaws, her thoughts, and her emotions are so well written. We get to know things about her past, her family and also her relationship with her fellow soldiers / friends (I love Synové and Wren btw) who she deeply cares for.
Jase is another great guy, I love him. I love the connection he has with his family, and how they come before anyone else. I love his thoughts about Kazi, how they are not that different from each other than what they think.
The romance, it is definitely a slow-burn, even though we get kisses pretty early. But the ways they showed their affection and their love and how they went through ups and downs together, I have to say that it did feel genuine, it didn't feel out of character for them to act the way they did with each other.
One thing I have to criticize is that the ending felt a little rushed.
Also a few plot holes were left open, like
How did Jase find out that Kazi replaced the sleep medicine with salt?
Why would Synové kill the prisoner she hates if she said she wouldn't and she knew it was the Queen's order not to do so?
I know these are kinda irrelevant but I still want to know
Also, leaving a book on a cliffhanger like this? A disgusting and genius thing to do. Just stop before chapter 62 if you don't want to read the next book or don't have it yet or if you don't want to be left on a cliffhanger. Because now I have to wait weeks until my bookstore has it again.
Loved it, 5/5
EDITED:
Okay so I reread this because I wanted to read Vow of Thieves, and I think I have to change a few things.
I am not that big of a fan of the relationship anymore. It annoyed me that there could have been a single conversation to erase all of the problems but that just didn't happen and I don't know why. At the same time, it felt rushed. They barely knew each other and somehow fell in love so hard in a short time of 2 months?
A few characters were really underdeveloped. The queen, and her relationship with Kazi, Gunner, Mason, and Wren and Synové (especially Wren) are only some examples. The author could have made so much more out of it if she decided to develope them a little bit more.
Sometimes, Kazi and Jase felt a little blunt and dull, and I am a little shocked that I didn't notice it before. Sometimes, they, and especially Kazi, just annoy me.
However, this book still has a place in my heart, even if I see some of its flaws now. 4.75/5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Genocide and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, and Infertility
jana_f's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Trafficking, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Torture
marine2907's review
- 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: Slavery, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Trafficking, Violence, War, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexual assault
mypatronusisajedi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Torture, and Sexual violence
her's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Classism, Excrement, Miscarriage, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Torture, War, and Medical content
addi_w31's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, and Cursing
Minor: Miscarriage, Torture, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
juliamalia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Vomit
ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Trafficking, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Slavery, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Chronic illness, and Abortion