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mags83509's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Great aroace rep!
ameserole's review against another edition
3.0
Do you want to know what makes me angry? Buying a book and then realizing that you are about to get the SAME book in your freaking upcoming book box. To say I'm mad at myself is an understatement because I basically bought the book twice without knowing. So, yeah, that happened and this is the book I'm talking about.
Other than that, this book was interesting and weird to me. Interestingly weird. Still enjoyable but also.. weird. Yeah. Going with that. In This Golden Flame, you will meet Karis. She is currently an orphan and trying to find a wait out of this shithole she is in. If that makes sense in any way. The reason why she wants to escape and smell freedom? Well, her brother was taken and shipped to far far away. No, not that place in any of the Shrek movies.. just really far away (from her).
One day she randomly awakens an automaton - Alix - and they begin the adventure of escaping this hidden gem. Along the way, they learn more about themselves. Now at times, I really liked Alix and Karis.. but other times they would annoy me. It would just be little things honestly. Oh and the big betrayal but other than that they were likable.
In the end, it was an okay book. I don't really have a specific feeling for how it really ended. It just did - plain, simple, and easy. So I guess, in a way, I'm glad that it's a standalone.
Other than that, this book was interesting and weird to me. Interestingly weird. Still enjoyable but also.. weird. Yeah. Going with that. In This Golden Flame, you will meet Karis. She is currently an orphan and trying to find a wait out of this shithole she is in. If that makes sense in any way. The reason why she wants to escape and smell freedom? Well, her brother was taken and shipped to far far away. No, not that place in any of the Shrek movies.. just really far away (from her).
One day she randomly awakens an automaton - Alix - and they begin the adventure of escaping this hidden gem. Along the way, they learn more about themselves. Now at times, I really liked Alix and Karis.. but other times they would annoy me. It would just be little things honestly. Oh and the big betrayal but other than that they were likable.
In the end, it was an okay book. I don't really have a specific feeling for how it really ended. It just did - plain, simple, and easy. So I guess, in a way, I'm glad that it's a standalone.
spookynerd00's review against another edition
Started this two years ago, finally removing from my currently reading. Life just got in the way, and I don’t find myself remembering enough or caring enough to continue. It’s not bad or anything! Life just be like that sometimes.
jasmine_elizabeth's review against another edition
5.0
My favourite thing about this book was that the main character Karis was Aromantic, it isn't something that features in a lot of books so it's nice when authors do this. I feel more represented and understood.
I loved the friendship between Karis and Alix and how it grew so quickly with everything they went through together. Alix was an interesting character considering he is an automaton, he had such emotion.
I enjoyed the plot, with the automatons and the script ink which I thought was interesting.
I loved the friendship between Karis and Alix and how it grew so quickly with everything they went through together. Alix was an interesting character considering he is an automaton, he had such emotion.
I enjoyed the plot, with the automatons and the script ink which I thought was interesting.
pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Simply beautiful. So much LGBT+ representation. Especially for my fellow ace community members. Also no one told me there were pirates!! (You think I would have put two and two together when I first looked at Fairyloot's alternate cover, but alas I did not). Lastly, Alix . . . sweet baby child . . . did any one else smash together Aang (ATLA) and Al (Fullmetal Alchemost) in their head when imagining him? Or was it just me?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Death, War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
pantsreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
Lovely book about identity in a fantasy wrapper.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
Lovely book about identity in a fantasy wrapper.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
alongreader's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fantastic novel set in an imagined world, where creatures something like robots are controlled with runes.
I did get a bit confused about the mechanisms here; apparently, anything powered by runes has a tome, and you have to write the runes in the tome to make anything happen. Most items have their very own tome that's the only one that works on them. But very early on Karis steals a random tome and tries to use it on a door. So the door didn't need its own one? I just didn't follow the system very well, which is a shame because it was really clever.
The rest of the novel is brilliant; excellent characters, great story, wonderful descriptions. I really enjoyed reading it and I look forward to being able to talk about it with other people. I'm sure I'm missing something simple about the magic system!
I'm really looking forward to reading the next book set in this fantastic world.
I did get a bit confused about the mechanisms here; apparently, anything powered by runes has a tome, and you have to write the runes in the tome to make anything happen. Most items have their very own tome that's the only one that works on them. But very early on Karis steals a random tome and tries to use it on a door. So the door didn't need its own one? I just didn't follow the system very well, which is a shame because it was really clever.
The rest of the novel is brilliant; excellent characters, great story, wonderful descriptions. I really enjoyed reading it and I look forward to being able to talk about it with other people. I'm sure I'm missing something simple about the magic system!
I'm really looking forward to reading the next book set in this fantastic world.
seemadyal50's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
coffeedragon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
This has been on my TBR for forever now, which is probably why I didn’t remember it was an lgbtq title. I was really happy going in and seeing Karis was ace! But because there were many individual pieces I liked and a few meh things, I did struggle a bit committing to a rating. But I do feel confident giving it a 4-average (3.75 on SG).
I really enjoyed things like the characters and their diverse identities (lgbtq and disability rep, but also more general walks of life - pirates, thieves, scholars, students, and more) and how there were real consequences to their actions. Their growth but also their non-growth, the focus on family and friendship, which I often only attribute to middle grade books (since YA tends to introduce romance at some point), and more!
The thing that made it meh was mainly the pacing at random points, but in general, I really enjoyed this read
I really enjoyed things like the characters and their diverse identities (lgbtq and disability rep, but also more general walks of life - pirates, thieves, scholars, students, and more) and how there were real consequences to their actions. Their growth but also their non-growth, the focus on family and friendship, which I often only attribute to middle grade books (since YA tends to introduce romance at some point), and more!
The thing that made it meh was mainly the pacing at random points, but in general, I really enjoyed this read
se_wigget's review against another edition
5.0
I like the world-building. It's aesthetically based on ancient Greece—the architecture, clothing, and names—and ditto the climate. Except the pirates wear 18th century garb, how we picture swashbuckling pirates dressing. Music from The Pirates of Penzance sometimes ran through my head, as it does. Steampunk also influenced the book a bit--mainly the automatons.
An aroace protagonist—yay! This is such an ace book. Not only is the protagonist aromantic asexual, but it seems safe to say the same about the other character who has a first-person POV: Alix the automaton who... has emotions. The emotions show on his face. He has an identity crisis, kind of like Pinocchio: is he a person or a thing? Did his father love him or just build him as a tool? Some ace people are accused of being robots or of not having normal emotions, so I think some of that influenced the author's characterization of Alix.
Circa 2011 I was in a graduate publishing program and took a YA Publishing class. I learned that in YA fiction a romantic interest for the protagonist is pretty much required for the genre. I'm glad this book breaks that rule. It shouldn't be a rule. I'm also glad the book prioritizes friendship.
Pretty early in the book, I kind of wanted to say to the protagonist: It's not your fault Dane was able to assimilate and you weren't. You could say he has Stockholm Syndrome. He can be annoying, especially early in the book. Dane needs to check his privileges. He thinks she should have assimilated to the same culture that kidnapped and imprisoned her, putting a shackle on her wrist. Ultimately, I sympathized with him; he's also having an identity crisis after deserting the military. It gave him an identity and a purpose... and as a runaway and rebel, he no longer has that.
Having a purpose in life... being kidnapped or abandoned... love ccx and acceptance... these are themes in this book.
Thanks to the pirates, music from The Pirates of Penzance keeps running through my head. "A life not bad/ for a hearty lad,/ though surely not a high life./ Though I'm a nurse,/ you might do worse,/ than make your boy a pilot."
Ah, I guessed right about Matthias—chapters ahead!