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kesreads13's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
anntharai's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I do wonder if this book is a victim of its own hype. I was hesitant to read at first due to the hype around itd then when it came up available on my library app I thought it had been long enough but I still found myself with expectations. It was fine. I'm not sure if it felt like a cliff hanger, Straight up sequel bait, or like they wanted to write a longer book but split it in two...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Murder, Classism, Death, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Torture
monanava123's review against another edition
I was really excited about this book but it’s not for me. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and felt that it was more of a tell me story vs a show me. I listened to the narration but I’m pretty sure the word wine was used more than 20 times in the first 10 chapters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
reed_harmon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Minor: Genocide and Physical abuse
suzson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Alcoholism
Moderate: Blood
lamyamy's review against another edition
Tropey, poorly executed insta love, poorly written addiction, poorly written dialogue, poorly written action scenes (I did this, I swung, I crouched, I did this).
Made it about halfway nothing interesting happened.
Main character was insufferably bland and riddled with contradictions. She is the best assassin ever but the only two examples I saw were her killing two unarmed civilians. But don’t worry she feels so bad about she cuts their names into her skin even though the writing doesn’t let the readers feel any of her remorse. She’s the best assassin but not really because she’s struggling with alcoholism until oh wait no she’s not anymore with very little thought.
Overall extremely flat characters and writing.
Made it about halfway nothing interesting happened.
Main character was insufferably bland and riddled with contradictions. She is the best assassin ever but the only two examples I saw were her killing two unarmed civilians. But don’t worry she feels so bad about she cuts their names into her skin even though the writing doesn’t let the readers feel any of her remorse. She’s the best assassin but not really because she’s struggling with alcoholism until oh wait no she’s not anymore with very little thought.
Overall extremely flat characters and writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, and Murder
cryosphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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 did go into this not knowing much about it other than it was a debut from a First Nation author. When I started this, I wasn't sure if it was going to grab me. It took about around 100 pages for things to really start flowing but once it did, I started to really, REALLY enjoy this. The foreshadow was a bit too 'hey, look at this twist that's coming' so it was predictable. Keera is definitely the highlight of this book, being a bad ass but flawed FMC who has multiple struggles to work through and the back and forth with Riven is a delight. And there are parts that are so heart wrenching that i had to sit the book down and process it (Looking at you Ch. 25).
I can see why some people may not like this since it's a fairly trope heavy book. The author thanks BookTok and it does gear it towards that type of 'tell me the tropes' writing. My biggest complaint was about half way through the book I was over being reminded that Halfings had their ears altered. Very repetitive reminder to the readers to see it mentioned over and over. While there was a lot more political intrigue than I anticipated which I love as a trope, I feel like the colonialism could have been a bigger aspect. I hope the next books continue to talk about it but bring in more to the forefront.
But when I hit the 75% mark I immediately ordered the next one and pre-ordered 3 so I clearly enjoyed it. Give me tropey fantasy and I will devour it.
I can see why some people may not like this since it's a fairly trope heavy book. The author thanks BookTok and it does gear it towards that type of 'tell me the tropes' writing. My biggest complaint was about half way through the book I was over being reminded that Halfings had their ears altered. Very repetitive reminder to the readers to see it mentioned over and over. While there was a lot more political intrigue than I anticipated which I love as a trope, I feel like the colonialism could have been a bigger aspect. I hope the next books continue to talk about it but bring in more to the forefront.
But when I hit the 75% mark I immediately ordered the next one and pre-ordered 3 so I clearly enjoyed it. Give me tropey fantasy and I will devour it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
Moderate: Alcohol and Colonisation
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Torture
elizatron's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I loved every minute of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Slavery
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual assault
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
whatkireads's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
3.5⭐️
I don't know how to feel about this book because in the beginning, the main character threw me off.
I didn't really like that she was wallowing so much, like girl how are you an assassin an also a drunkard at the same time?? but maybe I just haven't wrapped my head around flawed fmcs just yet. It was slow, and then suddenly I find myself staying up late to read and picking this up first thing in the morning to read for 3 hours straight. The "romance" here feels a bit rushed, it went from him hating her guts and barely trusting her to oh she broke her bones so I love her now, like the shift was a bit drastic. I didn't like how she just caved into it either, would have been nice to see more tension developed. The ending was...a little unexpected I can't say I saw that coming but it's also somewhat of a rushed ending too? It's a trilogy that has time to be adapted so it's fine but I did enjoy the book at the end of the day so can't wait to read the next few ones 🫶
I don't know how to feel about this book because in the beginning, the main character threw me off.
I didn't really like that she was wallowing so much, like girl how are you an assassin an also a drunkard at the same time?? but maybe I just haven't wrapped my head around flawed fmcs just yet. It was slow, and then suddenly I find myself staying up late to read and picking this up first thing in the morning to read for 3 hours straight. The "romance" here feels a bit rushed, it went from him hating her guts and barely trusting her to oh she broke her bones so I love her now, like the shift was a bit drastic. I didn't like how she just caved into it either, would have been nice to see more tension developed. The ending was...a little unexpected I can't say I saw that coming but it's also somewhat of a rushed ending too? It's a trilogy that has time to be adapted so it's fine but I did enjoy the book at the end of the day so can't wait to read the next few ones 🫶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Self harm, Sexism, and Physical abuse