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celestriakle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Man, not gonna lie, I had a complicated experience with this book. It had been hyped to death for me: I went in expecting the highest quality writing, a deep and subtle complex plot, really fascinating complex characters and relationships, and I got... not that.
The whole book could have used another round of editing. Stylistically, it comes off as rough and amateur. There are moments where the motions are awkward and confusing, and I cannot tell you how many times I saw the word "smilingly". The dialogue is at times stilted and awkward, with inconsistent character voice for Gideon in particular.
A consistent issue is the way the narration and dialogue are in conflict with each other. I understand that Gideon's supposed to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, but that's not really the conflict I'm talking about. Particularly in the beginning of the book, Harrow and Gideon supposedly hate each other passionately, but I never believed that for a moment. They kept saying the words, but it never matched what was on the page, even when they were in direct conflict and supposedly feeling all this hate. It felt awkward and out of sync. There were also a lot of moments when characters or the narration would call Gideon incredibly stupid when she's constantly offering intelligent, insightful ideas or observations. It'd be one thing if someone acknowledged Gideon's intelligence, among this very large cast, but that never happens.
I also can't write this without mentioning the INCREDIBLE levels of fatphobia in this book. In this book of nearly 20 characters, there's only one minor character who's fat, and he's one of the worst, most offensive fat caricatures I've seen in a long time. If he played any larger of a role, I would have had to quit the book. Muir can't go two seconds without mentioning his "softness" or fatness and directly connecting it to his cowardice, laziness, and hatred of hard work. At one point, he's directly compared to a donut.
ALL THAT SAID.
I did enjoy the book overall. Taken as more of a YA style adventure narrative, it's a lot of fun! It's a murder mystery. The magic's neat; the characters aren't that deep but they are distinctive and memorable and fun; the mystery is fun and intriguing with multiple angles and questions to sink your teeth into. It's an easy read. Once I readjusted my expectations, it was a lot of fun.
The whole book could have used another round of editing. Stylistically, it comes off as rough and amateur. There are moments where the motions are awkward and confusing, and I cannot tell you how many times I saw the word "smilingly". The dialogue is at times stilted and awkward, with inconsistent character voice for Gideon in particular.
A consistent issue is the way the narration and dialogue are in conflict with each other. I understand that Gideon's supposed to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, but that's not really the conflict I'm talking about. Particularly in the beginning of the book, Harrow and Gideon supposedly hate each other passionately, but I never believed that for a moment. They kept saying the words, but it never matched what was on the page, even when they were in direct conflict and supposedly feeling all this hate. It felt awkward and out of sync. There were also a lot of moments when characters or the narration would call Gideon incredibly stupid when she's constantly offering intelligent, insightful ideas or observations. It'd be one thing if someone acknowledged Gideon's intelligence, among this very large cast, but that never happens.
I also can't write this without mentioning the INCREDIBLE levels of fatphobia in this book. In this book of nearly 20 characters, there's only one minor character who's fat, and he's one of the worst, most offensive fat caricatures I've seen in a long time. If he played any larger of a role, I would have had to quit the book. Muir can't go two seconds without mentioning his "softness" or fatness and directly connecting it to his cowardice, laziness, and hatred of hard work. At one point, he's directly compared to a donut.
ALL THAT SAID.
I did enjoy the book overall. Taken as more of a YA style adventure narrative, it's a lot of fun! It's a murder mystery. The magic's neat; the characters aren't that deep but they are distinctive and memorable and fun; the mystery is fun and intriguing with multiple angles and questions to sink your teeth into. It's an easy read. Once I readjusted my expectations, it was a lot of fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Child abuse
Minor: Child death
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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
Made me cry!!!!
Gideon is crude and funny and brave and kind and a delight. Teenage jock lesbian forced to goth, wears sunglasses about it.
The plot is So Much (positive) and the Central relationship has pulverised my heart (positive but. OUCH.).
Gideon is crude and funny and brave and kind and a delight. Teenage jock lesbian forced to goth, wears sunglasses about it.
The plot is So Much (positive) and the Central relationship has pulverised my heart (positive but. OUCH.).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Terminal illness, Body shaming, and Genocide
Minor: Suicide attempt and War
daydreamermoonwalker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
OG rating (9/13/21): 4.5 stars
What I liked: The murder mystery plotline, the relationship between the main characters (holy shit I loved their dynamic and development), the humor (seriously "we do bones, motherfucker!" is an actual line from the book I love it)
What I didn't like: It took a while to get into (about 100 pages), the abundance of fight scenes (only a negative cuz I personally don't enjoy fight scenes that much no, but they were well written)
Overall it started slow but the rest of it was so fantastic that I don't care and I can't wait to read the sequel!! (Trust me you're gonna wanna have the sequel on standby)
Updated rating(10/10/21): 5 stars
Everything I said in the original review still stands, it was just a lot less confusing, and therefore a lot more enjoyable the second time round. It's definitely the type of book that you can reread over and over because you find new things every time.
Reread 01/29/22: This is my third read and it still *really* holds up! It honestly gets better each time. I absolutely love being able to theorize about what will happen in future books, and the foreshadowing and attention to detail is *incredible*. I'm not kidding when I say this and the sequel are the best books I've ever read and I can't wait for the third book!!
Here are a few more likes/dislikes
Dislikes:
Lack of body diversity: Most of the characters are thin, and the only fat character is viewed as lazy and cowardly.
Lack of description of skin tone and ethnicity: The main characters are supposed to be mixed Maori (said by the author in a tumblr post) but it's pretty much impossible to get this from the text alone. This leads to a lot of whitewashing in fan art. I think diversity in fiction is very important, so I wish the author had been more explicit in her representation.
These things didn't ruin the story for me, but I like to be able to see the flaws in the things I enjoy!
Likes:
The emphasis on non-romantic relationships: The non-romantic/platonic relationships are given just as much depth and importance as the romantic ones. They're allowed to be complicated and messy, they're allowed to be intense and all encompassing, they're allowed to be each other's favorite person! It was a breath a fresh air for me, as I think a lot of fiction puts most of the focus on romantic relationships.
What I liked: The murder mystery plotline, the relationship between the main characters (holy shit I loved their dynamic and development), the humor (seriously "we do bones, motherfucker!" is an actual line from the book I love it)
What I didn't like: It took a while to get into (about 100 pages), the abundance of fight scenes (only a negative cuz I personally don't enjoy fight scenes that much no, but they were well written)
Overall it started slow but the rest of it was so fantastic that I don't care and I can't wait to read the sequel!! (Trust me you're gonna wanna have the sequel on standby)
Updated rating(10/10/21): 5 stars
Everything I said in the original review still stands, it was just a lot less confusing, and therefore a lot more enjoyable the second time round. It's definitely the type of book that you can reread over and over because you find new things every time.
Reread 01/29/22: This is my third read and it still *really* holds up! It honestly gets better each time. I absolutely love being able to theorize about what will happen in future books, and the foreshadowing and attention to detail is *incredible*. I'm not kidding when I say this and the sequel are the best books I've ever read and I can't wait for the third book!!
Here are a few more likes/dislikes
Dislikes:
Lack of body diversity: Most of the characters are thin, and the only fat character is viewed as lazy and cowardly.
Lack of description of skin tone and ethnicity: The main characters are supposed to be mixed Maori (said by the author in a tumblr post) but it's pretty much impossible to get this from the text alone. This leads to a lot of whitewashing in fan art. I think diversity in fiction is very important, so I wish the author had been more explicit in her representation.
These things didn't ruin the story for me, but I like to be able to see the flaws in the things I enjoy!
Likes:
The emphasis on non-romantic relationships: The non-romantic/platonic relationships are given just as much depth and importance as the romantic ones. They're allowed to be complicated and messy, they're allowed to be intense and all encompassing, they're allowed to be each other's favorite person! It was a breath a fresh air for me, as I think a lot of fiction puts most of the focus on romantic relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia and Suicidal thoughts
abbiesbones's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Ohmygod. I sped through this book and could NOT put it down. I'm still not sure if i want to be gideon or be her friend. Her commentary is hilarous and she is endlessly lovable and crass in a sea of cryptic (and interesting) characters. I sobbed my way through the last 100 pages, and immediately ordered the sequel. How can i get this entire book tattooed on my body?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism and Fatphobia
dovedozen's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
An extremely fun Dangan-Ronpa-esque murder mystery with a cast I enjoyed getting to know and FAR less lesbianism than folks online might have you believe. Come for the entertaining cadence and strong potential for worldbuilding, get through the first 80-some pages as fast as you can, and stay for the fascinating applications of the death- and body-horror-based magic system towards exciting crimes such as "killing people". And also, for the best character in the book, who is TRAGICALLY an unironic anime glasses man with TWO different close, compelling partnerships with women, god damn it all.
CONS: The first chunk is genuinely boring, the third-person-limited narration is a bit wasted on Gideon, whose inner monologue isn't as funny as Muir seems to think it is and whose emotional life is somehow largely impenetrable to the reader, the lesbian romance the text wants you to focus on feels inauthentic and underdeveloped while multiple less-relevant side romances between men and women manage to be compelling, race and gender are glossed over as concepts (but the fingerprints of the author's real-world relationship with them are visible all over the place), and the worldbuilding where it doesn't directly pertain to the magic system is often under-thought-out.
PROS: Aside from the Drearburh section the prose is SPARKLINGLY vivid and paced extremely well; aside from Gideon's stilted she-himbo routine it's fun to read and made me smile often. When the authentic character moments hit they really hit, and I was much fonder of most of the cast by the end of the book than I expected to be at first. The action scenes are exciting and entirely parse-able and I enjoyed the extent to which Muir committed to the visceral nature of the magic system. The mystery and the hints towards larger plot elements felt just right to me, and there is enough extra reference material included in the hardcover version I read that it's totally possible and kind of fun to retroactively make coherent sense of any names and terminology you didn't quite grasp by the end of the story. Also, Palamedes.
Overall it's great, the second book made it even better in retrospect, and I feel pretty comfortable expecting that the third will be a fantastic conclusion. Just don't go into it expecting anything better than the barest baseline of "some LGBT representation, I guess"--go in expecting bones.
CONS: The first chunk is genuinely boring, the third-person-limited narration is a bit wasted on Gideon, whose inner monologue isn't as funny as Muir seems to think it is and whose emotional life is somehow largely impenetrable to the reader, the lesbian romance the text wants you to focus on feels inauthentic and underdeveloped while multiple less-relevant side romances between men and women manage to be compelling, race and gender are glossed over as concepts (but the fingerprints of the author's real-world relationship with them are visible all over the place), and the worldbuilding where it doesn't directly pertain to the magic system is often under-thought-out.
PROS: Aside from the Drearburh section the prose is SPARKLINGLY vivid and paced extremely well; aside from Gideon's stilted she-himbo routine it's fun to read and made me smile often. When the authentic character moments hit they really hit, and I was much fonder of most of the cast by the end of the book than I expected to be at first. The action scenes are exciting and entirely parse-able and I enjoyed the extent to which Muir committed to the visceral nature of the magic system. The mystery and the hints towards larger plot elements felt just right to me, and there is enough extra reference material included in the hardcover version I read that it's totally possible and kind of fun to retroactively make coherent sense of any names and terminology you didn't quite grasp by the end of the story. Also, Palamedes.
Overall it's great, the second book made it even better in retrospect, and I feel pretty comfortable expecting that the third will be a fantastic conclusion. Just don't go into it expecting anything better than the barest baseline of "some LGBT representation, I guess"--go in expecting bones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Body horror
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cancer, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Death, Murder, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
fiveredhens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
favorite quotes:
Harrow was sprawled on a sofa spread with tattered brocade, robes abandoned, scrawny black-clad legs crossed at the ankles. In Gideon's mind she looked like an evil stick.
I will make dessert, can reassure you
cook better than I duel.
—M.
Harrow said, "No."
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."
"She'd just skinned over the damage surface fix, hides the cracks. To really heal, she needs thalergy—life force—and she hasn't got any to spare."
"Oh, yeah," said Gideon. "Sextus gave her turbo cancer."
Harrow was sprawled on a sofa spread with tattered brocade, robes abandoned, scrawny black-clad legs crossed at the ankles. In Gideon's mind she looked like an evil stick.
I will make dessert, can reassure you
cook better than I duel.
—M.
Harrow said, "No."
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."
"She'd just skinned over the damage surface fix, hides the cracks. To really heal, she needs thalergy—life force—and she hasn't got any to spare."
"Oh, yeah," said Gideon. "Sextus gave her turbo cancer."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Fatphobia, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse
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