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bluejayreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Murder, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Religious bigotry, Animal death, and Excrement
Animal injury/suffering, forced marriage (attempt)miss_berry315's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
The romance was a slow burn that builds tension, but doesn't take so horribly long that you're shaking your book begging these two grown adults to just kiss already. The two MCs have amazing banter and work their way to romance naturally.
This book had an interesting plot (a man lives in a sword?? love it!), great side characters, and low-medium stakes. The majority of the book is spent travelling, and I felt like the last quarter of the book was a little bit rushed, but not enough to ruin the story at all!
This is one of those low-medium stakes stories that a lot of people like to put into the 'cozy fantasy' category, but I have a hard time calling a story 'cozy' if any of the characters are put in perilous situations.
Read the content warnings on this one for sure to keep yourself safe!
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, and Confinement
Minor: Gaslighting and Sexual assault
The sexual assault cw is mostly regarding the beginning of the book where it is stated and heavily implied thatnina_rae_131's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
This is the first book I've read with a 30+-year-old protagonist, so it was nice to try something new. I enjoyed being in Halla's head, and I enjoyed her banter with Zale (who was probably my favorite character). I liked that she wasn't super competent, and had a unique self-defense mechanism. Although I wish she wasn't so insecure. "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction is Sarkis and Halla's theme song.
Speaking of Sarkis and Halla, I feel like they fell for each other a bit too fast. I also feel like Sarkis didn't have to think about her boobs so much (but I don't read a lot of romance, so maybe that's a me problem). I felt like the "omg I can see your nipples through your shirt" moments were unnecessary.
I enjoyed most of the humor (although I don't think it's for everybody), but not all of it worked for me.
I loved that Halla and Sarkis were child-free and didn't change their minds at the end.
Also, I'm offended at the clammy hands hate. It's not my fault :')
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Death of parent
bdingz'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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, War, and Death
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Sarkis kept alluding to some big secret he needed to tell Halla, and I was really expecting it to be something major and a plot twist. When it was finally revealed, my reaction was "Is that the big secret? That's it?" I thought Halla overreacted to that reveal as the secret had nothing to do with her at all and no effect on her life. It felt very contrived just to add in some conflict between the couple.
I liked how inclusive this world seemed to be of various LGBTQ+ identities, with one very notable exception. Same sex couples appeared to be widely accepted and to have the same rights as straight couples. The nonbinary character was never misgendered or questioned about their gender, even by the villains. This culture of acceptance integrated into the worldbuilding was what made it so shocking to me when towards the end of the book, there were several moments where the characters seemed very unaccepting of, and even hostile towards, asexual people. Halla had an unsatisfying sex life with her late husband and described him as having been uninterested in sex in general. Sarkis vilified the late husband for this and even said he wished he could hurt him. Eventually, they seemed to settle on seeing the late husband and his asexuality as a burden. There's a lot of language that suggests ace people are broken, like saying he'd have to be "half-dead not to be interested in you" or Sarkis saying his religion has no use for someone who can't please their partner. This all felt really uncalled for. It put a damper on my enjoyment of the book and left a bad taste. It's a shame because this had been such a cozy and fun book for me, but it ended with me feeling attacked.
Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism, Grief, War, and Religious bigotry
thecolouryes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Confinement and Violence
Minor: Murder, Suicide, Self harm, Trafficking, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Misogyny, Death, War, and Torture
sonatica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
While there were some aspects of the book and romance between the main characters that weren't for me, I genuinely enjoyed it! The narrator of the audiobook does a great job with the character voices though, that really stood out to me - especially Sarkis! Du be warned though, if you do listen to the audiobook version, that this book has a few 'spicy' scenes in it. Those generally catch me off guard in audiobooks, so I thought it might be helpful to others if they knew beforehand.
Spoilers for the end of the book ahead:
Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, War, and Murder
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, Vomit, Confinement, Blood, Death, and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia, Slavery, Alcohol, Self harm, and Torture
nekoshka'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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Torture, and Vomit
clarabooksit's review against another edition
- 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? No
2.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Suicide, Violence, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Xenophobia and Vomit