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readwithria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Shazi is such an interesting character, and I really enjoyed reading her POV. I think the other characters could have used a tiny bit more fleshing out, but I liked them all quite a bit.
Writing: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3 stars
As a note, I’m glad I switched to the physical book because the narration of the audiobook made it hard for me to tell who was talking.
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Suicide
kylosten's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Violence, Animal death, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content
noellelovesbooks's review
5.0
Mention of: suicide, murder, death of loved one[s], pregnancy, classism, sexism, grief, and miscarriage.
This gorgeous book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now and I decided it was finally time to dive in...and it did not disappoint.
We get a story with love, mystery, intrigue, and a little magic...we also get a story where stories are told to us by some of the characters and I LOVE that. Idk why but there's just something about a character telling us a story/myth/lore from their world that just helps me settle in even more. ^^
The end of this book had me glad I already have The Rose and the Dagger sitting on my shelf...so I can immediately dive into the other half of this tale.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Animal death, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Suicide
geminisoul'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: Animal death and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, and Blood
notsobinaryart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Animal death, and Confinement
Minor: Slavery and Miscarriage
emsavors's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
dlsmk's review
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Grief, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Self harm
emeryboyd's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Suicide
imaginationindex'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
- Retelling of A Thousand and One Nights. It was clever and doesn’t often get a retelling, I loved it
- Also the storytelling by Shahrzad. It was a story within a story, descriptive and captivating… it worked.
- Despina and Jalal acted as a great foils for Shahrzad and Khalid
yet are too prideful for their own relationship - I bookmarked every single romantic and affectionate moment. Out of context some quotes may come across as cheesy, but they made me melt as I read further
- Few action scenes I forgot about but carried the story forward. Shahrzad wasn’t always the DID (damsel-in-distress), and is an experienced archer in her own right
- How indecisive Shazi was (look, I’m not one to talk but… girl, are you going to kill him or not)
- Tariq. I get she’s your childhood best friend however he always thinks she needs saving. His own agenda irritated me and also….
- Honestly still a little on the fence about the pace of the love story. With Tariq’s POV, it spaced it out however it was still a matter of days that she caught feelings and things escalated.
- TW: I’ve included this last, not because it is least important, but if the things above haven’t turned you away, this one might. Their marriage is consummated very early on and while it’s a fade to black scene, it’s clear Shahrzad is just going through with it and not willing to say no. It’s awkward when she’s at least happy he didn’t try to kiss her.
And especially when you find out later on that Shahrzad is the only girl who Khalid has done this to… yikes.
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage
hazelgirl21'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
4.0
Moderate: Blood and Death