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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief
lollyr'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, and Murder
morganish'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
Yet even as I've been leaning away from YA fantasy and more toward adult recently, I found myself really absorbed in this one. The prose was straightforward, but sometimes unexpectedly beautiful; the worldbuilding wasn't dense or complicated, and yet the central conceit works well and there's a surprising amount of effective mystery. All the untold secrets yet to be discovered ultimately worked to hook me in. The romance is a kind I like but don't often find executed this effectively: angst-heavy, with lots of pining. It's a true slow burn, with outstanding threads still left hanging by the end of this installment, the first of a duology. Even though I'd heard others say this book was really good, AND even though I was excited by the idea of AI creations in a traditional fantasy setting, I was still surprised how good Crier's War was.
If you like your slow-burn romances to actually feel like something slow and aching and epic, this book probably has what you're looking for. (Especially if you're looking for more sapphic fantasy.) If you like the feel of YA fantasy stories, but sometimes wish the worldbuilding had just a little bit more mystery or intrigue like adult fantasy, this might serve, depending on your tastes. But if you're just completely done with YA fantasy and all the aspects that come with it, or don't like romances that build across multiple books, OR don't like the enemies-to-lovers trope, this book probably won't do much for you.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, and Sexism
A lot of the elements I include about the content warnings are specifically fantastical, like fantastical xenophobia. Most of the other content warnings have some level of fantastic to them as well. It isn't a direct reference to IRL events and doesn't include IRL bigotry, for example.make_believer'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: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Infertility
offbrandclubsoda'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? It's complicated
3.5
Spice level: 🌶/5
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Infertility
Minor: Gaslighting
philmarie321'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Child death, and Blood
_meganmoretto'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
4.75
Moderate: Grief and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
mothman19'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: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief
caseythereader'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? It's complicated
4.5
- I also love a prickly heroine, which Ayla is (and then some). Following her struggle to square her beliefs with her reality was wonderful.
- There's also some excellent palace intrigue amid all the sapphic longing. This is really not one to be missed!
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Violence
flopsiful's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content