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eviethebookworm'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
3.5
Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Gore, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Misogyny, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Self harm, Alcoholism, Stalking, Slavery, Pregnancy, and Gun violence
viselik's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Misogyny, and Sexism
styxx'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
2.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Hate crime, Misogyny, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Torture, and Toxic relationship
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Alcohol
themis_biblos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Body horror, Sexism, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Gore
lexihworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Sexism, Torture, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Confinement, Stalking, Violence, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Misogyny
gen_wolfhailstorm'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
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Self harm, Classism, Physical abuse, War, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Genocide, and Violence
oweatherwax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Gore, and Sexism
honeytastic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Stalking, Blood, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Murder, Body horror, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism
not_another_ana'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
A girl walks home alone, but not alone.
In a world where only women can wield magic three girls will cross paths thanks to a serial killer targetting witches. Jude is a rich heiress who accidentally cursed herself and is now suffering from a rotting soul. A pariah to her family and constantly in pain she will do anything and pay whatever steep price to fix the damage and go back to her normal life, and if she has to track down a killer then so be it. Zara is looking for a way to bring back her sister, Savannah, from the dead and if magic is the answer then she'll stop at nothing, including finding her sister's murderer. When they find themselves down the same path they start working together and come across Emer, an actual witch and the girl who gave Zara's sister her magic. She could cure Jude and maybe even reanimate Savannah, but there's a more pressing situation: her clients are slowly being killed one by one. Bound together by what they know the three of them will try to catch this serial killer before he comes for them.
I thought this would be such an easy 5 stars. A book about witches! With a serial killer! By the same author of House of Hollow! Saying I was hype is an understatement, I was genuinely counting down the days and yet... this did not hit 😔 and trust me, it hurts. Some of my frustration might be due to how much I loved House of Hollow, which I read twice last year, and to that I say my bad, sure, but even separating this from previous books I still think it's weak and not up to standard. There were still elements that I enjoyed so let's start with the good.
The prose was excellent in general. Easy to read, very descriptive without boring the reader, non repetitive. Nobody does gruesome in such an enjoyable way as Krystal Sutherland, tasteful amount of gore I would say. The central idea was solid, I was particulary captivated by the magic system in this world. Magic has a price, magic hurts, it's disgusting, it cannot do it all, it demands a sacrifice. Giving away part of your soul in exchange for power ties up nicely to the medieval beliefs of witches consorting with the devil. Emer's family history
Now to the bad parts. I knew this wasn't a 5 stars when I realized there were three points of view. It made the beginning too slow because we had to meet all of them, learn about their situation, and then connect them to the main plot and eventually each other. The pacing was a big issue, slow start that then picks up only to slump again to then pack all the action in the last 30%. At some points the girls were too similar and difficult to separate, at others some of them felt like they were just there and didn't contribute much to the story
Then there's the... romance.
I said a lot of shit for a book that I still ranked 3.25 but I stand by it all. I did enjoy it! Which makes everything I didn't enjoy so important for me to talk about. Even with all this if Krystal Sutherland handed me a new book in a similar vein I would sit my ass down and thank her for the meal. TL;DR: yeah you can still read this and enjoy it.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse
Graphic descriptions of corpses