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shieldbearer'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? Yes
4.0
I also can't say I liked the reveal about the origin of the Wood Queen and the reason the wood is attacking. I think the Staryk were handled with more nuance in Spinning Silver.
However, I would still strongly recommend this novel.
Graphic: War, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Murder, Medical content, Death, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, and Animal death
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit
naomi_k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping, War, and Sexual assault
gbmillar2002's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
mallorypen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
What I really loved about the story is each character felt important. Agnieszka and the Dragon are obviously so, but Kasia starts out at the best friend who was supposed to be chosen and wasn’t - even so, I fully believed in the relationship the two girls had, so when it came time for Kasia to be used as bait against Agnieszka, the motivations of the characters made perfect sense. The prince’s character, too - he is both fairytale prince and uncaring, would-be rapist in the very first meeting, but later is shown as a heroic figure, an easily-manipulated pawn, a lost child driven by a need for his mother.
I also like the premise of the Wood as a villain, and at the end of the story
The relationship between Sartan and Agnieszka was paced in such a way that, even though there was that initial power imbalance, they didn’t really recognize their feelings for one another until Agnieszka came into her own power and they had done the working together. That, and that Sartan fought against his feelings the entire time and called out the age difference - all to which my girl Agnieszka said “don’t care, take your pants off” - I felt like they met on equal footing and never once did their relationship feel like Stockholm syndrome or a savior/teacher preying on their rescue/student.
Overall, there were so many little details that I thought the author did so well. The connections through the story, the pacing and build up of plot, the characterization, and the hopeful ending made this a fun, nail-biting, fantastical read.
Graphic: War, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Rape
ellaensorcelee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: War, Sexual assault, and Animal death
writer_a_fox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
Graphic: Body horror and War
Moderate: Sexual assault
shaipanda'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? It's complicated
4.75
Oh also - the huge ass age gap between the two characters? Weirddd - especially cause she starts the book at 17 and it does not clarify at alll how long this book goes on for and therefore how old she is at the end which made me a bit uncomfortable
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship
rivercat0338'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and War
falchionm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Grief, War, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Abandonment
kindra_demi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
As with any fantasy book, the beginning was full of world building, but it wasn’t so much so that it made it difficult to understand. The parts that were left vague were intentional to be answered later on. I will say that the writing style at times was a bit confusing. There were times where something would be posed as a thought, only to be answered by another person verbally (though no mind reading was ever mention). In the same vein, I also found I did have to reread some passage a couple times to understand what was fully going on. This is especially true in the second half of the book that was action packed. While for the most part, the writing that was intentionally left vague were eventually answered, there are some moments where I wish we got an answer as to why something might have happened.
Hands down my favorite part of the book is the magic system. The magic system was one of the most interesting magic systems that I’ve read! (Light spoilers for the types of magic seen)
For it’s faults, this is definitely a book I would recommend to any fantasy lover, but as always, check the content warnings and see if it’s something for you!!
Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death