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katievallin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
Minor: Child death, Colonisation, and Death of parent
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Child death
Minor: War
Anti-Irish sentiments expressed.taynicole2698's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Violence, Classism, and Gaslighting
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Racial slurs and Animal death
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Maggie wants nothing more than to live a safe and simple life with her alchemist mother--who is never home. Wes dreams of becoming an alchemist politician to make the world a better place, and to do that, he needs to become Maggie's mother's apprentice. But since her mother isn't home, Maggie and Wes concoct a plan to catch a magical creature during the Halfmoon Hunt to impress Evelyn.
This book is a little bit The Scorpio Races, a little bit Shadow & Bone. I really liked the plot and found the world building and magic systems very interesting. I was not a big fan of the characters or relationship. I had issues with some of the things that happened in the romance between Maggie and Wes. Nothing so bad it would ruin the book but definitely knocked it down a peg in my mind. Characters are really important to me in a story, so even though I loved this plot, the lack-luster character building hurt this for my rating.
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content
foreverinastory's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was fun. Was a little sad the MC didn't seem to be queer but oh well. The religious diversity was really well done in this. I also loved that Wes was an immigrant!
I don't want to put antisemitism as a CW because there are not Jewish characters in this, but the impression I got from the treatment of Sumic people closely resembles the treatment of Jewish people.
Rep: white half Yu'adir cishet female MC, Banvish immigrant dyslexic Sumic cishet male MC (also likely ADHD), Banvish immigrant sapphic Sumic female side character, side MLM pairing.
CWs: parental neglect, emotional abuse, bullying, religious bigotry, violence, gun violence, animal death, blood, xenophobia, panic attack, toxic relationship, grief, past death of parent, abandonment, injury/injury detail. Moderate: gore, sexual content, ableism, racial/religious slurs, hate crime.
Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gun violence, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Hate crime, Gore, Sexual content, and Racial slurs
enasbookshelves's review against another edition
- 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
AFWM was one of those books I tried to start, put down after the first page, then finished in one sitting the next time. By the time I was ten pages into this romantic fantasy, I knew I was not going to return to the real world until I had reached the very end of the story. By the time I was ten chapters in, I’d fallen completely in love with the underdog characters Margaret and Wes. They were utterly imperfect, and thus so utterly real. Their respective journeys were made all the more engrossing with the author’s descriptive, immersive storytelling: autumn is a nonexistent phenomenon in my corner of the planet, but even I felt every stray sunbeam, every gust of wind, every scent of wild animal.
The book was very rich in detail about alchemy, hunting, different religious denominations. It had a lot to say in the romance aspect, but it had just as much to say on family, identity, and belonging. What an honor it’s been to hype this book to the rest of the world!
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racism, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia