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eli_deatherage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I picked this up as a title from the author of Divergent, which I enjoyed, and Arch-Conspirator that I had my reservations about. This story didn't quite grab me as much as I wanted it to.
People are spread throughout the galaxy and there is a shining glowy plasma trail thing in space that changes colour and is somehow linked to some augmentative gifts that the people acquire as they come of age. These gifts seem to be a honing of internal predispositions and are adaptive to each person, often in response to a meaningful event in their lives. In traumatic situations sometimes these gifts awaken early to protect those who are in trouble. The two main characters have strange gifts, one who feels chronic pain and inflicts it on others by touch, and one who stops the flow of the Current that bestows the gifts, stopping a persons powers while he is in contact with them.
The world building in this is pretty cool but I think the story telling falls a little flat. I am a proponent of good prophesy stories (I've said this often) and this story is pinned on certain players who are "Fated" to do certain things. The prophets have an ability to see into the multiplicity of futures, and those Fated are the ones who seem to turn out always at the same point, no matter what path is taken. It does baffle me however that the main antagonist wants to fly in the face of his fate, demonstrating a willingness to believe that such fates can be averted, and yet, he basically sets up his sister to have plenty of opportunity to lean into hers, despite it not being in his best interest.. why would you write a story like that? If you are worried about your sister Defecting, why would you buddy her up with a refugee-slave from the other side? This characters is supposed to be wily and not shortsighted.
Blah fights.. my other Thing is not liking fights, and there are too many. Too much bodily defacement, and even in the horrific violence, not enough realism for me to even engage with it. It's a bit sad.
CW: there is a lot of stimulant use, poisoning, and things so if that's not your bag, then read something else.
I like some of the twisty plots, oppression and resistance, but some of the race memory of language, secret genealogy, blood lines, just feels a bit too magicky.. this semi-magical semi-scifi .. it doesn't really cohere for me. When I think about it that's a little weird because I liked the bloodlines and inheritance stuff in Legendborn, but this left me cold.
Lots of focus on killing, grief, and cutting tattoos into flesh to remember loss.. just feels a bit.. emo.
People are spread throughout the galaxy and there is a shining glowy plasma trail thing in space that changes colour and is somehow linked to some augmentative gifts that the people acquire as they come of age. These gifts seem to be a honing of internal predispositions and are adaptive to each person, often in response to a meaningful event in their lives. In traumatic situations sometimes these gifts awaken early to protect those who are in trouble. The two main characters have strange gifts, one who feels chronic pain and inflicts it on others by touch, and one who stops the flow of the Current that bestows the gifts, stopping a persons powers while he is in contact with them.
The world building in this is pretty cool but I think the story telling falls a little flat. I am a proponent of good prophesy stories (I've said this often) and this story is pinned on certain players who are "Fated" to do certain things. The prophets have an ability to see into the multiplicity of futures, and those Fated are the ones who seem to turn out always at the same point, no matter what path is taken. It does baffle me however that the main antagonist wants to fly in the face of his fate, demonstrating a willingness to believe that such fates can be averted, and yet, he basically sets up his sister to have plenty of opportunity to lean into hers, despite it not being in his best interest.. why would you write a story like that? If you are worried about your sister Defecting, why would you buddy her up with a refugee-slave from the other side? This characters is supposed to be wily and not shortsighted.
Blah fights.. my other Thing is not liking fights, and there are too many. Too much bodily defacement, and even in the horrific violence, not enough realism for me to even engage with it. It's a bit sad.
CW: there is a lot of stimulant use, poisoning, and things so if that's not your bag, then read something else.
I like some of the twisty plots, oppression and resistance, but some of the race memory of language, secret genealogy, blood lines, just feels a bit too magicky.. this semi-magical semi-scifi .. it doesn't really cohere for me. When I think about it that's a little weird because I liked the bloodlines and inheritance stuff in Legendborn, but this left me cold.
Lots of focus on killing, grief, and cutting tattoos into flesh to remember loss.. just feels a bit.. emo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide, Slavery, Self harm, Racism, Drug use, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Deportation, Death of parent, and War
esterslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, War, Physical abuse, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- 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? No
3.0
I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed the Divergent series from Veronica Roth and I liked her writing style. This book was challenging with all the new world building and characters. But unlike The Chosen One and Divergent – this storyline was slow-paced and took me a while to get into.
In this world everyone has a gift which they call a currentgift. This book is set from two character’s point of view. The first character is Cyra. She is the sister of the brutal tyrant named Ryzek who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — a gift in which she hates and is in total agony but her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows. She is determined free herself from her brother’s control. The second character’s point of view is Akos and his currentgift is unusual. He is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the planet of Thuvhe. Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get this brother out alive — no matter what the cost. Akos and Cyra are stuck together in a world they want to get out of and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?
The one thing I liked about this book is the multiple POVs, enemies to lovers and the found family tropes. I liked the characters that came from both world who wanted to work together and fix the issues on each planet. Cyra also grew on me during the novel and I liked her character development. I liked Akos from the first chapters because of his actions and his loyalty from the beginning. I just struggled with this book. It was very slow-paced compared to Roth’s other series. I struggled with the world building and the new terminology that I didn’t really understand the first quarter of the novel. Once I got into it, I was just waiting for the big action or the big reveal that didn’t really happen.
I was very disappointed because Roth’s other books are quite strong and this one just didn’t do it for me. I don’t know if it was the space aspect of it or the slowness of the novel, I just really struggled to get through this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
kazbrekkercore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
2/5
The current flows through everyone, and every living thing, bestowing each human with a unique gift. On one side of the planet, in Thuvhe, lives Akos not yet with a currentgift, fated child of one of the three oracles. On the other side, Shotet, lives Cyra, whos currentgift brings her only pain, fated sister of her country's brutal sovereign. They live separate lives until Akos is captured by the Shotet, and joins forces with Cyra.
This book was really close to a DNF for me. The concept was intriguing, but this book had almost no action, and what little it did seemed to pass in slow motion because of the writing style. I’m also still not entirely sure what the details of Cyra’s currentgift were, it wasn’t explained very well. Finally, because I don't like leaving all negative reviews, I really liked Akos's character, he seemed pretty relatable. I would not read this book again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and War
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