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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-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
4.0
This was a nice YA fantasy! It was fast pace Polish inspired historical fantasy with monsters who fall in love with each other as they compete to consume the heart of a prince. It’s also a wlw story, which was nice to see in the YA sphere.
I think i would have liked this a bit more if I was more invested in the politics behind the scenes. It felt like it wanted to say more about the context in which these two women were in, but it was really only discussed in the last quarter of the book. Overall though, I liked the magic, the enemies to lovers trope, and strong female characters. The banter with the main characters, and the prince and the side characters was great.
I think that for a younger audience, this could be definitely a 5 star.
I think i would have liked this a bit more if I was more invested in the politics behind the scenes. It felt like it wanted to say more about the context in which these two women were in, but it was really only discussed in the last quarter of the book. Overall though, I liked the magic, the enemies to lovers trope, and strong female characters. The banter with the main characters, and the prince and the side characters was great.
I think that for a younger audience, this could be definitely a 5 star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia
Minor: War
jes7037's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Animal cruelty
gbrds762's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death, Cannibalism, and Colonisation
wardenred's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
No matter how dark the night, a new day always dawned. The sun never, ever failed to rise.
Such an exciting wintry read! I absolutely loved the Polish-coded setting, the clear fictionalized ties to real historical events, and all the cultural details about the festivities, the food, the clothes—everything. All the descriptions were so engrossing and vivid, and I really felt transported into the story. I also really liked all the monstrous witchcraft lore that made this book the perfect scary fairytale for the dark part of the year.
Marinka quickly became my favorite character with her fiery competitiveness and strong spirit. I kind of expected to like Zosia more because her arc/inner conflict sounded like something I usually find quite interesting. Somehow though, while I didn't mind her and liked her dynamic with Marinka, her personality didn't particularly endear her to me, although she kept growing on me more and more as the story went on. I absolutely loved Beata and her friendship with Marinka. And that secondary romance with my absolute favorite flavor of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers dynamic? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. My favorite aspect of the book, really. Those two are going to live in my head rent-free for a long time.
There were some pacing issues in the first half of the story, and then some of the events in the second half felt rushed, which is the one reason this isn't a full five-star read for me. Otherwise, this is a great tale of chaotic villainous queers, and exactly the wintry read I needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: War
hannahs_library_'s review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Physical abuse
brynn_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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? Yes
4.0
The concept of this book was so intriguing. I mean, who doesn’t love sapphic villains? This book is different than anything I've ever read before. I like how the main characters were both villains and how they didn’t completely change their ways by the end of the book.
I do wish the backstories were more expanded on. I also thought the beginning felt a little weird and rushed. It was like they became friends within one chapter and then almost immediately became enemies again. It felt a little rushed. I would have loved to see more development with their friendship and then watch them become sworn enemies again.
Overall, I wish the story was fleshed out a little more. I wanted more development between the characters’ relationships and more elaboration on the magic system. But I still enjoyed it. It was very fun and very queer. I don’t think there are any plans for a sequel, but I could definitely see one happening. Especially because the ending didn’t feel completely satisfying to me. There was something missing but I don’t know what. It also felt a little rushed to me. But I would still highly recommend this book if you’re into sapphic villains!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
pey333's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, War, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol and Animal cruelty
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
this was such a good enemies to lovers, i could really feel how much they hated each other and the confusion as to why they wanted to be around each other all the time. and it's gay too, so it's superior, AND they're witches? would honestly love a book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, and War
lahariel's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Child death
nobeliumreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
In the kingdom of Lechija is a prince with a pure heart. Consuming it gives one immeasurable power. Two monstrous girls, Zosia and Marynka, are willing to do anything to get it; the former for herself, the latter for her patron. But it’s not easy trying to kill a beloved prince during the festive Karnawal season, and as their rivalry heats up, so does the danger to both of their lives.
--
A fun and easy book I binge read in two days. Marynka and Zosia’s rivalry, the way they got so frustrated whilst also wanting to be sabotaged by the other was so entertaining to read.
I do admit that I liked Zosia more though, because at times Marynka did frustrate me. Beata, another servant girl to the witches, though predictable, was an unexpected addition and I personally think she deserves her own story after apparently third wheeling her entire life. However, I felt like we didn’t know much about the girls other than them being monsters or servants or rivals which made me feel a bit detached from them.
The writing is fine and the worldbuilding was really interesting, maybe too interesting because it ended up making me more intrigued in what was going on in the background instead of Marynka and Zosia; the political tension in Lechija, the budding revolution, whatever was going on between Józef and Kajetan. I would honestly love a second book about Józef and Kajetan. Another thing that I wish we’d seen more of were the witches; we spend the whole book being told how powerful and terrifying they are but they weren’t as big a threat as I expected them to be. We never even see Black Jaga and considering how she’s apparently the most powerful of the witches, I expected a terrifying confrontation between her and the girls after finding out what Zosia did. And although this is a personal preference, I would have loved to see more of Marynka and Zosia in the ending.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but couldn’t help but wish for more whilst reading it. My own expectations definitely influenced how I felt about the book, so that’s on me but objectively I think it’s still an enjoyable sapphic rivals to lovers book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Suicide, and War