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jdasilva'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Death of parent, Child death, Gore, Body horror, War, Blood, Death, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Torture and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide, Physical abuse, and Grief
badbadwolf'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
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Murder, Blood, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
jakemitton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
There are a couple tough scenes involving animals. Not really animal cruelty but just somewhat hard to read.jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Torture, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, War, Slavery, Classism, Suicide, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death
elizabeth_helmer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Colonisation, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent
saltycoffee'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
4.75
Graphic: Slavery, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Classism, and Grief
karwc's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: War, Vomit, Colonisation, Suicide, and Classism
potion96'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Grief
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The positives: thank you, a Roman-inspired fantasy! I have no idea why there aren't a million epic fantasy door stoppers with Roman-flavored fantasy worlds, and this book makes great use of this current. I really enjoyed how our protagonist is constantly struggling against a tide of different conspiracies, political maneuvering, and thorny social situations tangled tightly together with no breathing room, despite the length of this book. I am surprised with how graceful it was able to juggle all these plot points, and knowing this isn't the author's first epic fantasy series gives me hope he can keep the delicate dance going all the way to the end. While it was never bad before that point, the story really comes into its own and starts blooming once Vis makes friends and has other non-hostile characters to bounce off of. I had to keep reading because I wanted to see how the puzzle pieces in play would slot together, and literally the last 5 pages of this book took my breath away
Yet... I think every epic fantasy book I've read so far this year has the same damn protagonist: talented, prideful teen boy with an anger management issue. It's so boring! I cannot believe Vis was able to keep his head down for the three and a half years between the fall of his country and the start of the book. He is hot headed to a fault and his actions constantly undercut the praise I kept hearing about how this book has "an actually intelligent protagonist who knows how to scheme."
And I can't help but notice the only meaningful resistance to the Oppressive Government is a bunch of terrorists who love slaughtering unarmed civilians, including children, because "everyone is complicit! (◡‿◡)". Can't help but notice the number of times the handful of female characters screw over our protagonist compared to the male ones.
But the mysteries this book set up intrigue me, despite the reservations I have about some of the tropes at play, it's not enough that I cannot in all consciousness stop myself from giving it 5 stars. I'm going to keep reading.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Blood, Gore, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Vomit, Slavery, and Xenophobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Suicide, and Homophobia
There's no terrorism tag on StoryGraph? Although there are no guns, there is a scene whereiono'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Gore, Child death, War, Murder, Colonisation, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Genocide, Body horror, and Bullying
Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Slavery, and Confinement