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cassie12_21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Torture
kodafaith'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
4.0
I do find it funny how much hate JLA has gotten for something she literally has hinted at for the entire series and think people need to take a step back. There is absolutely no need to be horrible to an author just because you didn’t enjoy what happened, just don’t read the books!
I found this book great and I’m so excited to learn more about the histories and see how this war plays out. I can’t wait for more books to be out!
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
mberezin95'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
_savannahreads_'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
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
jonezzzing's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Torture
cluckieduck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I’ll start with the actual book review before touching on the scandal that has grown.
In typical JLA fashion, this book is a bit overstuffed with info & description and could probably be 1/4 thinner, at least. As well, there’s so many redundancies between this series & the newer Flesh & Fire series; Poppy & the Consort are basically the same characters, so having two series practically repeating is a bit much with the double-info dumps, but I digress. The bulk of this was quite enjoyable! There’s a lot of action, tension, angst, grief, love, lust, surprise…everything you want in a fantasy novel. I just wish she were a better writer, or at least had a better editor.
The characters, both main & supporting, are appropriately loveable & hateable. Even more than Isbeth, Callum is a particularly despicable villain. And Reaver is a delightful addition to our core group of heroes and I am here for all his snark & dry remarks. I’m interested to see where the next book will take us after the ending we are given.
Id rather not address this, but I think it’s almost necessary at this point. I stayed away from social media after I saw grumblings of how JLA “ruined” the series with this book, so the whole time I was reading, I kept wondering what all the griping was about, then finishing to see it’s all linked to the Joining…get a grip people. The rise in vitriol that female authors of these kind of series receive is disgusting when a storyline or a “ship” doesn’t go a a particular way. Now, I was neither for or against the Joining. That’s up to JLA as a writer and I don’t think she was swayed by fan opinion. Could it have been written better? Probably. Did it detract from the story? No!
Everyone is welcome to their opinions and everyone has their own tastes, which means you can read or not read what you want to. Criticism is ok, but doxxing & threats are disgraceful. This is a fantasy series after all.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
cndillon17'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: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Death
bedtimesandbooks'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
psydneigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ive read most of JLAs works and I think what I’ve ultimately realized is they are better for bingeing once the series is complete than reading as they release, so going forward, I think that is how I will read her books.
Moderate: Confinement and Classism
lunahale'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
4.75
Moderate: Confinement and Torture