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louisallama's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The book started out fairly strong, and I enjoyed the banter between Cat and Griffin and all the side characters were fun, but that's about it.
Cat is in a constant cycle of 'I feel so drawn to Griffin but I can't trust or love him because of my mysterious (and horrifically obvious) past, but oops I'm telling him things I swore I'd never tell anyone and now I'm kissing him back and then hitting him immediately after'. Seriously, she goes back and forth every other page, it's infuriating, and she's not portrayed as mature or serious enough to pull it off well.
Griffin ends up being pretty abusive towards Cat imo. He never lets her make her own decisions, never trusts her word, is insanely jealous and possessive of her, and there ends up being a lot of dubious consent in the latter half of the book.
Also *spoilers for the ending*
isn't Cat supposed to have magical self healing powers? How come that never comes up at the end of the book when she's stabbed in the gut by Daphne and is bleeding to death? Unless I'm blind, there's not even a throwaway line to hand-wave it away because she's ~too weak~ from using her powers all night. She can get in the way of dragon fire and the arrow that fried her to a crisp and put her arms in a ball of flames and be absolutely dandy, but she can't self heal enough from a knife to the gut to go get help? Correct me if I'm wrong because that's the biggest dumb as shit plot hole.
The plot wasn't strong enough to make up for these overwhelming character flaws, and while the writing was decent, I'm not surprised that this is a debut novel.
Cat is in a constant cycle of 'I feel so drawn to Griffin but I can't trust or love him because of my mysterious (and horrifically obvious) past, but oops I'm telling him things I swore I'd never tell anyone and now I'm kissing him back and then hitting him immediately after'. Seriously, she goes back and forth every other page, it's infuriating, and she's not portrayed as mature or serious enough to pull it off well.
Griffin ends up being pretty abusive towards Cat imo. He never lets her make her own decisions, never trusts her word, is insanely jealous and possessive of her, and there ends up being a lot of dubious consent in the latter half of the book.
Also *spoilers for the ending*
The plot wasn't strong enough to make up for these overwhelming character flaws, and while the writing was decent, I'm not surprised that this is a debut novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Gore, and Sexual harassment
katievallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Stalking, Torture, Blood, Child death, Slavery, Violence, Classism, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
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