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rexpostfacto's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Death, Violence, Murder, Torture, Blood, and War
Moderate: Classism and Sexual content
rori_ratsoma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Body horror
Minor: Suicide
just_bookish_things_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
All I can say is wow! I did not expect to like this as much as I did. The first couple chapters were hard to get into. I felt like Amora was simply a boring self entitled princess. I didn't want to root for her at all. But I was proven wrong very quickly! The magic system is incredible. The lore and history of the kingdom is very well fleshed out. I could not recommend this story more. My only gripe is there was a couple short sections that felt rushed as if the characters weren't making decisions based on their character traits rather they made the decisions to further the plot. However, that was uncommon. I absolutely loved this book, and I can't wait to read the sequel.
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: War and Self harm
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
(spoilers throughout this review)
Pros:
- it was the plot that most kept me going with this one, since I just wanted to know what'd happen next and how it'd finish! I thought for a minute near the end that we weren't gonna see Kaven dead in this book, but we did, so I'm interested to see if there'll be a new villain in the sequel or if it'll just be Amora struggling against the curse.
- though fairly simple, the different islands with their different magics was a lot of fun, as was the magical history and lore that went with it.
- I liked how surprisingly dark it was, with Amora being all stabby and having her gory magic. despite the younger YA way it was written, there was still plenty of guts and glory! especially when Amora randomly severs Ferrick's limbs at will.
- the side characters were fun, and I especially liked the mermaid, Vataea, and her and Amora's friendship. Amora is lacking in female friends but she and Vataea worked well in their little scenes
- there's also a fairly strong feminist message throughout this. Amora and Vataea are the strongest members of the crew, Amora's ability to run the country as a woman is never questioned, she's passionate, driven and powerful and Ferrick never tries to limit or control her. she might have faults, but Amora is definitely confident and that's good to see
- Amora also randomly gets her period in the middle and isn't embarrassed much at all about this, brushing off the boys being flustered and just sorts it out. it's not treated as a big deal at all, which was cool
- the plot twist with Sira's generational curse was cool, I hadn't anticipated that at all and I'm interested to see how Amora will break it. We also got to see a very different side to Amora without her magic
cons:
- it did feel like a young YA book overall, by which I mean it read too simplistically, without much flair to the writing or much depth of ideas or message to the book. it was exactly as it said on the surface. so while it was fun, it didn't really get my emotions involved at all or make me think much
- the love triangle, though not handled very badly, was a bit trite. Grace mentions Twilight in the acknowledgements and well... that says a lot
- Amora does have issues as a character that didn't feel like they were addressed, like how Ferrick gives up limbs for her and she doesn't even thank him, or be honest with him about how she doesn't love him. I guess she definitely seems like an entitled royal, but it would've been nice to see her change or realise this.
- she has a bit of a crisis over her use of her soul magic on prisoners, but I'm not sure it was fully explored
- I got a bit confused a couple of times. at the start, I thought Amora had never practiced soul magic before her performance, but that wasn't it at all, so that wasn't clear. I'm not entirely sure how Vataea got them onto Zuzoh in the end, and surely the sea monster should've sunk the minute it was frozen? I liked the creativity of Grace's use of her worldbuilding and magic, but it did get a bit far fetched or confusing at times
so overall, I don't think the writing was anything special, but it was a fun read and did keep me reading
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Torture, and Animal death
pretty gory descriptions of repeated amputationsarthomas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, War, Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Violence
chattycali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and War
Moderate: Torture