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withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I think that Lore is a wonderfully developed protagonist with a lot of flaws but who nevertheless manages to be very likeable through her love of New York and her attachment to those she loves. Miles is your typical quirky best friend and I love the fact that his knowledge of the mortal realm helps massively within the plot. I also loved witnessing the development of his relationship with Van, and I would honestly jump at reading the exact same book again but told from either of their POVs. Aristos Kadmou - or Wrath - is an absolutely terrifying villain that exemplifies what happens when you give power to the wrong kind of person. The one character I didn’t really connect with was Castor, his characterisation was a little inconsistent for me and by the end he kind of came across as a golden retriever boy with no flaws to use as a character arc. That said, I still really enjoyed the romance between him and Lore.
The plot twists are really what gives this book its oomph. They just keep coming and each one hit me like a truck, but at the same time they’re done in a clever way and actually serve a purpose rather than just being there for shock factor. The unreliable nature of Lore’s POV and how information is revealed very slowly adds to the fact that you honestly can’t fully trust any of the characters, not even the protagonist.
Overall, this is an action-packed book for mythology-lovers. I don’t know if I’d call it YA, and I think it might be better suited to older teenagers due to certain content in the story, as well as the complexity of the worldbuilding and how deeply it dives into Greek mythology - prior knowledge of a fair amount of mythology is definitely recommended in order to understand all the references and discussions.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol and Gun violence
sunflower_tea's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Medical content, Body horror, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Suicide, Incest, Sexism, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Bullying, Cancer, Hate crime, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Colonisation, and Adult/minor relationship
lollyr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder
gracereads's review
I’m hoping I can come back to this but at the moment it’s a DNF
Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, and Gun violence
lisa_m's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The writing style was great. This is the first book I've read by Alexandra Bracken and I definitely want to read more! The Darkest Minds has been on my tbr for a while so I'm excited to read that soon :)
The ending was quite abrupt and a bit under explained imo and that's part of the reason my I didn't give it 5 stars. I genuinely enjoyed it but it just wasn't five stars for me.
Edit: After sleeping on it I decided to give it 4 instead of 5.75. There were no real plot twists and everything that was explained I had already guessed before. The things I couldn't figure out on my own weren't explained in the end which left me confused.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child abuse
lolayuh'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
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
elenamarmiroli's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
_forestofpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There were one or two more things I didn't love. Specifically the end battle which was not as epic as I expected. The two major twists which were totally predictable to me, and the fact that Lore could not shut up about how pretty Cas was every second they were together.
I liked it, but won't be re-reading it.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Bullying