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yarisbooksandbevs'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? It's complicated
4.5
I do wish there was a clearer distinction and more organized approach when switching POVs but it’s a fun switch.
I’m excited to see where this series goes. This was a great opener.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief and Drug use
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, War, Torture, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
caitlyn_kittle_kinnick'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? N/A
4.25
Graphic: Genocide, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Classism, Violence, War, and Death
pairswellwithbooks'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: Murder, Violence, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Slavery
Moderate: Cursing and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Hate crime, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
aammeess's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Torture, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, and Misogyny
cabalus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Gore, Child abuse, Hate crime, Death, Child death, Colonisation, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Torture, and Violence
cait's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Gore, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Murder, and Slavery
vvsmydiamonds'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? Yes
3.75
It had an intriguing plot, but mediocre world-building imo. The love triangle was so bland and useless. I did not care for either boy past their platonic involvement and frankly, don't understand how or why Celaena made time for all that flirty shit when she had more essential matters. Celaena could be prideful, illogical, and childish to a frustrating point but that's to be expected.
People shit on this next aspect and call it Celaena "switching up" or "changing personalities." Personally, I liked seeing her grow from a girl in slavery, holding on to her spirit and memories of her life into a confident, witty, young woman (who made frequent silly decisions) who also grew in health and strength and began to trust/depend on others. Her character development isn't near complete, but I'm happy that she at least didn't remain stagnant. I wish she cared more about certain matters; she'll be recalling information she just received basically saying "... or something of the sort" or "... whatever that was" like bruh... you don't think that's kind of important?
One thing I enjoyed the entire time was the humour and Calaena's occasional relatability. Also, the descriptions of the dresses were nice but sometimes a cool "it was a flowy purple gown" is good, yfm. I also appreciated that she had hobbies and how she wasn't some one-dimensional #hot #coolgirl #blackwidowinphase1mcu assassin. Not gonna lie though, her reputation seems a little too good. Adarlan's Assassin is cool but homegirl is not the "Queen of the Underworld." As far as we've been told, she only really operates in the northern part of the continent, though she's been to all over, and has only been active for ten years, nine if you factor in the prison/slavery time. You can't tell me no one in her world is better/more popular than her. I have higher hopes for the next book!
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Murder, Slavery, and Body horror
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Vomit, Sexual violence, and War
britwalsh16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I like the characters, I like the world, and I love reading stories like this one and ACOTAR, that are led by some very basass women! I can’t wait to dive deeper into it all!
Graphic: Vomit, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, and War
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Gore, and Grief
erafact'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Violence, and Colonisation
Minor: War, Grief, and Genocide
MC is "rescued" from a slave labor camp in order to fight to compete for the corrupt king who is known for genocide and book burning in an attempt to remove magic from the worldktmcd26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The most distracting part of this book is at times it can feel quite juvenile. There were so many exclamation points in the first chapter, I was constantly rolling my eyes. It also very much feels like a CW teen show, where for some reason the creators insist on making the characters young, but give them jobs and titles that require far more years of experience. I believe the author was in her teens when she started this novel, which could contribute to this.
How the characters behave though does make sense for their age.
Celaena is extremely vain, and doesn’t seem to think about the impact of her words and actions. And Dorian doesn’t seem to quite grasp the position he is in as the crown prince, and how he plays into the horrors his country is actively creating.
Chaos is far and away my favorite, and I really hope that that doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass later in the series.
Very little explanation of the magic system. The characters lack of desire to get answers when they are available is frustrating, so I hope that flow of information opens up in the next books.
Graphic: War, Genocide, Slavery, and Blood
Minor: Vomit