Scan barcode
goldenlake'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, and Slavery
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Classism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, and Cursing
Minor: Racism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture
kes7706's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Child abuse, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, and Cursing
booksthatburn'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? Yes
3.5
It shows Beka’s partnership with Tunstall, something set up at the end of Terrier. There’s a new storyline related to the kidnapped child they’re tracking. This answers the reason why Tortall has slavery in Beka’s time but not by the time Alanna is born in the Song of the Lioness quartet. Several things are introduced and resolved, including but not limited to the kidnapping and the conspiracy at the center of it.
Most of the book covers the long and difficult (but mostly long) journey on the trail of the prince and the minutiae of the hunt. Along the way Beka gets to know Farmer, the mage in their group. Tunstall’s Lady Sabine is there to be a sword and to ease their way among the nobles in their path. Beka and Tunstall are their with Beka’s scent hoond, Achoo, making the hunt possible. I like most of the individual scenes, but together they just take a very long time on the trail of the prince. I also find the plot about Beka’s recently deceased fiancé to be pointless and frustrating. Because the story so immediately leaves Corus, most of the people who knew about the relationship are left behind right away, and any reference to how much better Farmer is to be around than the fiancé just feels odd because we didn’t see the toxic and slowly breaking relationship that just ended. It’s fine for Beka to have had a life in the three years between books, but this weird halfway where the fiancé isn’t around in TERRIER or BLOODHOUND and dead at the start of Mastiff makes it feel unmoored and pointless. I do love Farmer, he’s a great addition to the series and I just wish he’d appeared earlier.
This book might mostly make sense if someone started here and hadn’t read any of the other books, but it would definitely dampen the impact of several developments. Beka’s still the narrator (except for the epilogue), as this is her journal. MASTIFF has a pretty devastating betrayal which makes it difficult to discuss the story without spoilers. I hated this event when I first read the book, but upon re-reading the trilogy I can see the elements leading to it much further off and it makes more sense to me now. It still feels like the casual destruction of a good character, but in an actually understandable manner. This concludes Beka’s writings of her story, the journal format means she can say specifically that she doesn’t intend to keep a journal anymore after these events.
Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Murder, Child death, Blood, Excrement, Violence, and Animal death
Moderate: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Cursing, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment
btwnprintedpgs'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
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: War and Toxic relationship
bookbrig's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Classism, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Murder
Minor: Torture and Toxic relationship