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waywardcrow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
This was so good but I would not describe it as a fun read. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline is very engaging and full of exciting moments. But I was just as happy to put this book down at the end of the day as I was to pick it up at the beginning.
Because the caste system is so dark, cruel, and twisted and my heart was breaking for those at the bottom of society. It is a reflection of other oppressive systems and colonialism throughout history. This is not an escapist read by any means. Ironically, the next book on my TBR is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Hopefully reading this has opened up/prepped my mind for that reflection and I won’t get too depressed reading them back to back lol.
Anyways! It was very well written and I loved the use of poetry and storytelling throughout the novel. Not only were the acts of oppression mirrors of our world, but so were the acts of resistance. There’s also a lot of mystery and intrigue, I totally have no idea where things are going. I tend to read a lot of more predictable books (which I don’t mind) but this was a nice change to be genuinely surprised about everything that was happening.
And of course, hip hip hooray for sapphic representation! I was not expecting a world where being LGBT is normalized. But I think we needed it or else this would be an even harder read than it already was. I like the way the romance developed over time, although the romance reader in me yearned for a more angsty portrayal of their internal conflicts as they realized their feelings for one another.
Because the caste system is so dark, cruel, and twisted and my heart was breaking for those at the bottom of society. It is a reflection of other oppressive systems and colonialism throughout history. This is not an escapist read by any means. Ironically, the next book on my TBR is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Hopefully reading this has opened up/prepped my mind for that reflection and I won’t get too depressed reading them back to back lol.
Anyways! It was very well written and I loved the use of poetry and storytelling throughout the novel. Not only were the acts of oppression mirrors of our world, but so were the acts of resistance. There’s also a lot of mystery and intrigue, I totally have no idea where things are going. I tend to read a lot of more predictable books (which I don’t mind) but this was a nice change to be genuinely surprised about everything that was happening.
And of course, hip hip hooray for sapphic representation! I was not expecting a world where being LGBT is normalized. But I think we needed it or else this would be an even harder read than it already was. I like the way the romance developed over time, although the romance reader in me yearned for a more angsty portrayal of their internal conflicts as they realized their feelings for one another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Drug use, Genocide, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism
aurora4847's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
I get the hype behind this series. The balance between political intrigue, action, and character development was perfect. I could not stop listening. It helps that I love the narrators' voices. I'm so excited to continue the series and see where everything is going next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Racial slurs, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, and War
This book is intense. There is a strong caste system with all the racism and classism that goes along with it. There are 2 public executions described with varying amounts of detail. Multiple characters experience the death of family members (including parents). The magic system is based on blood, so self harm for rituals is common. One caste suffers mutilation as children (process not described, only results). There is police brutality similar to that in the United States. There are flashbacks to child abuse, and multiple characters are involuntarily confined in varying spaces (including solitary confinement). The main character struggles with addiction through the whole story, and there are depictions of drug use, interventions, and withdrawal symptoms.beth97's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
mlkai's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
spoiled the ending and the beginning kind of dragged but i enjoyed this. i’ll continue the trilogy, not sure if right away though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation
abernoodle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
fanboyriot's review against another edition
slow-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
4.0
Read For:
✓ Slow Burn
✓ Queer POC
✓ Grumpy x Sunshine
✓ Queernormative World
✓ Interesting Magic System
˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
Not going to lie this book intimidated me for the longest time, fantasy books with small fonts tend to do that. However, I really enjoyed this book once I started reading it. Both the world building and character development were done well. The queer representation was done so nicely and the topics of addiction were written with care. It showed addiction in a more realistic light than some books, and showed the cycle of abuse along with recovery.
While it was a little slower in the middle of the book the beginning and end really made up for it. Overall, the hierarchy of the different colors of blood was such an interesting idea and played well into the plot.
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: Third Person
Release Date: 23, June 2022
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
raila_h's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Fatphobia
crybabybea's review against another edition
This will be my biggest disappointment of 2024, damn I was excited for this.
It was fine, but the world-building was lackluster despite some really cool ideas. Main characters have really unique struggles that made them interesting. I can't get past the heavy exposition dumping, messy writing, and whiplash tone changes. If I were more interested in the plot I would keep going, but I have no interest in reading a training/trials story. Feels uninspired and overdone. Also there's a borderline incest romance happening and I just can't handle that lol
Might pick it up later but I feel myself actively avoiding reading it so I'm giving up for now.
It was fine, but the world-building was lackluster despite some really cool ideas. Main characters have really unique struggles that made them interesting. I can't get past the heavy exposition dumping, messy writing, and whiplash tone changes. If I were more interested in the plot I would keep going, but I have no interest in reading a training/trials story. Feels uninspired and overdone. Also there's a borderline incest romance happening and I just can't handle that lol
Might pick it up later but I feel myself actively avoiding reading it so I'm giving up for now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Torture, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ashley_mrose530's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was such a good book. I thought the world was so interesting and different. It took me a little while to understand the differences between each group of people and I even I had to start the first like half hour of the book over so I could make sure I was getting it all, including the POV shifts, but once I understood it, it was such a good read.
I really liked the world building in this book. The three separate blood types making a caste system was intriguing. I really enjoyed that the book played heavily with the fact that you truly don't know someone's blood color just by looking at them so there were many who were able to pretend to be in one caste over the other and as long as they never got an open wound, they would essentially be able to masquerade for as long as they wanted.
I also liked the idea of the blood magic they hadthough one of my very first questions was why only the red blood people could do it which ended up being one of the big reveals at the end - in actuality, anyone can do it. I figured this would be the case but I still enjoyed the reveal and how it connected in a way to our real-world history of colonization. This book has so many obvious parallels to our current world and political climate and that was no accident. It's amazing how much the author was able to fit in this world to make it so similar to ours but so different at the same time.
I also really liked the portrayal of addiction throughout this book. It was great to see how realistic it was and how Sylah was still dealing with the withdrawal effects even 5 months after quitting cold-turkey. I liked that it wasn't just forgotten about and dropped in the middle like it easily could have been. It was very much routinely brought up and focused on which is a very real issue that addicts deal with. I loved seeing that representation and I hope it continues throughout the series.
Finally, I loved seeing these characters grow throughout this book. Syla goes from being completely hopeless and giving up on herself and the empire, to being inspired and passionate and full of determination to fix the systemic issues within their country and helping the ones who are being oppressed. And Anoor goes from being a very naive and kind of spoiled rich girl to having her eyes opened to how other people are being treated in the government that she was benefitting from and being determined to change it and help them. I hope they both continue to grow and find their own power as the series progresses.
I can't wait to finish reading this series. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that my library doesn't have the other two books so I don't currently have access to the rest of the series. It might be a while before I can finish it.
I really liked the world building in this book. The three separate blood types making a caste system was intriguing. I really enjoyed that the book played heavily with the fact that you truly don't know someone's blood color just by looking at them so there were many who were able to pretend to be in one caste over the other and as long as they never got an open wound, they would essentially be able to masquerade for as long as they wanted.
I also liked the idea of the blood magic they had
I also really liked the portrayal of addiction throughout this book. It was great to see how realistic it was and how Sylah was still dealing with the withdrawal effects even 5 months after quitting cold-turkey. I liked that it wasn't just forgotten about and dropped in the middle like it easily could have been. It was very much routinely brought up and focused on which is a very real issue that addicts deal with. I loved seeing that representation and I hope it continues throughout the series.
Finally, I loved seeing these characters grow throughout this book. Syla goes from being completely hopeless and giving up on herself and the empire, to being inspired and passionate and full of determination to fix the systemic issues within their country and helping the ones who are being oppressed. And Anoor goes from being a very naive and kind of spoiled rich girl to having her eyes opened to how other people are being treated in the government that she was benefitting from and being determined to change it and help them. I hope they both continue to grow and find their own power as the series progresses.
I can't wait to finish reading this series. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that my library doesn't have the other two books so I don't currently have access to the rest of the series. It might be a while before I can finish it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Classism
sangsmiles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Colonisation