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rieviolet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Whay can I say? I am very invested in the story and its characters so I was really excited when I saw that my library had finally gotten a copy and I borrowed it straight away.
This book (and in general all of Natasha Pulley's books) is quite plotty, to put it simply a lot happens and keeps happening, and also the great majority of it is not exactly light stuff, quite the contrary. Still, the story is very intriguing and pulls you along, and it can also be quite funny at times.
Anyway, I think that the plot is very well balanced by a great cast of characters. They are very well-drawn (even the secondary ones) and they are explored in all of their complexities. Also, I think that the descriptions are really well-done, they manage to depict the setting and its atmosphere really well but they are not too long and overdone, they flow nicely.
I know that this book is not perfect (for example I'm a bit sad about the storyline of some of the female characters) but I just love it a lot. It has been a long time since I had such a fun, absorbing and also heartbreaking reading experience. It has a very special place in my heart.
This book (and in general all of Natasha Pulley's books) is quite plotty, to put it simply a lot happens and keeps happening, and also the great majority of it is not exactly light stuff, quite the contrary. Still, the story is very intriguing and pulls you along, and it can also be quite funny at times.
Anyway, I think that the plot is very well balanced by a great cast of characters. They are very well-drawn (even the secondary ones) and they are explored in all of their complexities. Also, I think that the descriptions are really well-done, they manage to depict the setting and its atmosphere really well but they are not too long and overdone, they flow nicely.
I know that this book is not perfect (for example I'm a bit sad about the storyline of some of the female characters) but I just love it a lot. It has been a long time since I had such a fun, absorbing and also heartbreaking reading experience. It has a very special place in my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Death, War, Colonisation, Violence, Animal death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Classism, Racism, Police brutality, Blood, Self harm, Chronic illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Torture, Sexual harassment, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
pineapplesurvivor's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Murder, Police brutality, Classism, Grief, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: War
steffi_23's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
The last hundred pages made me lose my mind a bit
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism
panflutes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
i definitely enjoyed this one more than the first. the characters all felt much more fleshed out, and i found takiko to be a much better female lead than grace. it does still have a vague feeling plot, which i imagine is what everyone in the novel feels like when dealing with mori--you know something is going to happen, you just have to wait and see.
the chief mystery behind just why mori is doing everything that he is was also disappointingly easy to figure out very early in, and that took a lot away from my ability to enjoy the ending--especially in regard to takiko's death. the second i saw the line about an electron microscope, i said to myself "surely he isn't going to start an international incident to cure thaniel's tuberculosis," and yet here we are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
sternbrunchdaddy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Struggled to decide how I felt about this book. I was excited to see the switch to Japan, the more settled lifestyle the main characters embark upon but much of the tale has Thaniel and Mori quarrelling with each other or not communicating or not even near or in communication with one another. The action and plot of the story really drives this, and there's noticeably fewer of those moments where the characters share a pot of tea or marvel at a clockwork invention. There's less Mori too, less clockwork, less clairvoyance, less of much that made the first book so special. That said, it was well written and engaging in its own way, just not as much for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, War, and Homophobia
tuya's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
this book was boring and a slog to get through. the things that bothered me about the first book (which i really liked!) seemed to be magnified here. i didn't like grace 'i'm not like other girls' carrow, and here she is, still being casually racist! the new female character was just as unlikable as grace, and her decisions were just as dumb. the first book had a bit of an uncomfortable sort of asian fetish vibe plus colonial racism. and there was so much more of that in the this one. there was really no need for continued descriptions of how ‘small’ and ‘doll-like’ japanese people apparently are. i feel like she was trying to do a ‘see how outdated and terrible this thinking is?’ but it was just gross. the characters were all static and honestly the plot just seemed convulated for the sake of it. i wanted a book about thaniel and mori together but they were apart for most of the book. their relationship, which i loved so much in the first, was a pale shadow of itself tbh. and this book was just a rehash of mori doing things without telling anyone and thaniel being confused. i felt like no ones character really showed any growth. disappointing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
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