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jdasilva's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
It’s Stuart Little meets Divergent meets Hunger Games. I was holding my breath most of the book having no idea what was going to happen next. The world building was effective, the attention to detail, background, and side characters help build it all out. I almost took off 0.25 stars because I just want to know MORE but that’s the sign of a great book. I’ll be frozen and pondering until the next one comes out. Don’t read any spoilers or even the description, just buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Content Warnings
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
jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Amazing! The best fantasy book I’ve read in a long time!
Content Warnings
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
bainesy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Was a bit disappointed that we never got much about class three when he finally made it there. I did feel like all that was handed to Vi”mildly’ easily haha (I can see where some readers had issues with that). I also feel a bit left in the dark with a few things to do about the challenge itself & the labyrinth; it all felt a bit convoluted. But I’m still rating this four stars as I really enjoyed it! Very interesting & I will be reading the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Torture
jennanaps's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Death, Body horror, Medical content, War, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
calmcozycorner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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: Grief, Blood, Violence, Murder, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Physical abuse
andrew_corduroy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yeah I’m gonna need the sequel now please and thank you
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, and Physical abuse
Minor: Vomit, Torture, and War
cody_crumley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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
"Greed is by definition the moral ruler of the Hierarchy, Diago. All decisions are based upon it. It is not the strong who benefit in their system, no matter what they say it is the weak. It is the ones willing to do anything, sacrifice anything, to rise. It rewards avarice and is so steeped in a wrong way of thinking that those within it cannot even see it."
There is always a nervous feeling when I decide to tackle one of BookTok’s darlings that is popping up on my FYP pretty much every video. You can’t help but have your expectations set extremely high when people whose opinions you trust when it comes to books almost universally give something 5/5. Thankfully the nervous feeling with “The Will of the Many” was completely unfounded, leading me into an early contender for my favorite book for 2024.
“The Will of the Many” follows Vis, a war orphan from the island nation of Suus, who was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps as the next in line to rule. That all changed when the Catan Hierarchy conquered and murdered his family. What follows his Vis’ journey of avenging what happened to his family while balancing the asks of his adoptive “family” to discover the mystery at the Hierarchy academy.
Something that I think is the major standout from author James Islington is how amazing of a main character POV that Vis is. From his internal first person internal monologues to him working out and problem solving, he comes across as one of the most natural characters I have read. The fine line of making him not feel perfect but also not feel ignorant is walked perfectly. His interactions and intentions align incredibly well with his internal motivations. Vis really is one of the best written characters I have read in a long time.
Islington does not waste all of his great writing on Vis, it is spread around to the supporting cast as well. There are some many great supporting characters that I am not going to name all of them, but once the story gets to the academy and becomes a “school” setting, they all really shine.
Another major tent pole in the start of this new serious is the political climate and maneuvering that serves as the looming backdrop to Vis’ narrative. As I have seen with other books that have similar narrative beats (Red Rising for example) sometimes world building that comes with establishing a new universe can sometimes take more than the first book to really establish itself. Islington does not need that, he really sets the tone early on with what has happened and the continued fallout of the Hierarchy’s conquest. He smartly uses the Hierarchy’s real world counterpart (The Roman Empire) to help establish his in-world history, so even as the reader it’s a new world, there still is a familiar feeling that helps you follow along. As a history minor, this really scratched a certain itch that fictional books rarely due.
I also listened to the audiobook in different stages and it is solid listen. The narrator handles Vis and the others well and I actually found it to be helpful with the pronouncing of the really hard Roman-style naming conventions.
The story is broken up into three distinct parts, and while I found the first two parts to be stronger than the third, the ending of this story with a epilogue cliffhanger that had me wide-eyed at 1AM when I finally finished has me craving the follow up immediately. If you think you might be interested in this book, please don’t look up anything and just delve right in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Classism, War, Torture, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent
thebowandthebook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Enjoyed this book, but was unhappy when I had to return it before finishing it. Couldn't wait to finish it. The world-building was really good, and the twist at the end caught me by surprise. I look forward to reading the next book but wish it ended with a bit less of a cliffhanger. The ties from Roman society were cool, but the descriptive violence was also there too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Gore, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
zoeelora's review against another edition
Too long for how little fun I was having while reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, Medical content, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
I found myself struggling to get through THE WILL OF THE MANY, and I ultimately did not finish reading it. I enjoy doorstoppers and I like long books, the length is not the issue. I can like a slow burn story when I have an idea of what the slow burn is building to, but while I mostly understand why Ulciscor is doing what he's doing, I don't understand what Vis (the protagonist) is doing or what his goals are.
The character's background is conveyed mostly through his thoughts, and at first I thought it was going to be gradually revealed in bits and pieces. Having made it a quarter of the way through the book before stopping, it doesn't really seem like more is forthcoming (at least not in time for it to feel meaningful).
The Will system is interesting, it's well-described and has some fascinating implications for the world. I appreciate how the exploitative nature of this power is combined with a colonialist empire. It's a synergy between the political and magical in a way that makes sense as to why things are as bad as they are for almost everyone in the system, with the magic and the exploitation feeding into each other in a horrible self-reinforcing loop.
Ultimately the pace was slow enough that it broke any sense of momentum that I had while reading, and I'm just not interested in finishing it.
The character's background is conveyed mostly through his thoughts, and at first I thought it was going to be gradually revealed in bits and pieces. Having made it a quarter of the way through the book before stopping, it doesn't really seem like more is forthcoming (at least not in time for it to feel meaningful).
The Will system is interesting, it's well-described and has some fascinating implications for the world. I appreciate how the exploitative nature of this power is combined with a colonialist empire. It's a synergy between the political and magical in a way that makes sense as to why things are as bad as they are for almost everyone in the system, with the magic and the exploitation feeding into each other in a horrible self-reinforcing loop.
Ultimately the pace was slow enough that it broke any sense of momentum that I had while reading, and I'm just not interested in finishing it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Slavery
Moderate: Excrement, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Fatphobia, Vomit, Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, and Death
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