Scan barcode
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Animal death, Mental illness, Gun violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Confinement
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Vomit
carol_3927's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
This is one of the best books I’ve read. I was hesitant going in because of mixed reviews but I was hooked within the first few chapters. The different POVs from the main characters are done so well! I’d have to say I definitely felt more engaged with the Aranth side of the story but both were amazing. I can’t wait to read the second one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Violence, Death, and Cursing
totallyshelfaware's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Gore, Animal death, and Physical abuse
misoreads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
2.5
If someone put Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Madmax and Rapunzel in a blender this would be the result they'd get. I swear I would've loved to give this a higher rating because it has Haidee and Arjun in it after all and I loved them to bits. I literally want to protect Haidee at all costs buuuut even if it had my attention all through the first half of the story, I did consider abandoning it. Wondering what would happen to Haidee made me keep going. Don't get me wrong, there were many things about this book that I enjoyed. Finding sapphic characters when I first expected to be none was a great surprise (even if I ended up loving Arjun and Haidee's arc more), the characters were interesting and funny and the adventures weren't bad. There were certain details I didn't like as much tho. By the second half, Lan and Odessa's arc was losing appealing to me idk why, Odessa's own arc made her unlikable to an extent, the magic was hard to follow at times and personally I enjoyed more one setting than the other. Still I'm glad I got to finish the book and will likely get to the sequel after taking a short break from this universe.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Physical abuse
valpyre's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
[audiobook]
this was much more enjoyable for me than chupeco's the bone witch, so i was optimistic at the start. the premise was interesting, and i thought the main characters and romances had been well-introduced, though aspects of the way arjun was written rubbed me the wrong way. the plot picked up almost immediately, which was a plus, but after that it honestly all felt very stagnant. stuff happened, sure, but i didn't really feel any sense of urgency or drive. i think chupeco prefers to tell and rarely show, and i enjoy writing that's the other way around, so i had a hard time feeling invested in these characters and their goals. this had all the bones of a good fantasy, but ultimately it felt underdeveloped, so i don't think i'll be continuing the series.
this was much more enjoyable for me than chupeco's the bone witch, so i was optimistic at the start. the premise was interesting, and i thought the main characters and romances had been well-introduced, though aspects of the way arjun was written rubbed me the wrong way. the plot picked up almost immediately, which was a plus, but after that it honestly all felt very stagnant. stuff happened, sure, but i didn't really feel any sense of urgency or drive. i think chupeco prefers to tell and rarely show, and i enjoy writing that's the other way around, so i had a hard time feeling invested in these characters and their goals. this had all the bones of a good fantasy, but ultimately it felt underdeveloped, so i don't think i'll be continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Minor: Cannibalism and Sexual assault
moon's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
i had trouble getting through the first half of the book because the pov changes with every chapter and it broke my flow and concentration every time but after the pacing picked up in the second half, i breezed through it with ease.
the premise is very intriguing and unique, but i have to admit that it took till more than halfway through the book for me to get a decent grasp on the world-building and lore. the logistics of magic and how it worked in their world was so vague and poorly explained that if you ask me right now how gates and patterns are utilised, i would struggle to tell you.
that said, it was very easy for me to grow attached to the main characters. well, most of them. arjun and haidee were my favourite and while i know they're the least angsty/complicated pair of them, i loved how their characters grew and developed as the plot progressed. i also appreciated tian lan's complexity, but odessa on the other hand...it was cool seeing how her inner thoughts and morals gradually devolved as the ritual transformed her, but i feel that her character arc was very hastily concluded with no attention brought to the consequences or implications of her earlier actions. hopefully this will be addressed in the sequel.
the never tilting world is by no means perfect but i enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the sequel.
the premise is very intriguing and unique, but i have to admit that it took till more than halfway through the book for me to get a decent grasp on the world-building and lore. the logistics of magic and how it worked in their world was so vague and poorly explained that if you ask me right now how gates and patterns are utilised, i would struggle to tell you.
that said, it was very easy for me to grow attached to the main characters. well, most of them. arjun and haidee were my favourite and while i know they're the least angsty/complicated pair of them, i loved how their characters grew and developed as the plot progressed. i also appreciated tian lan's complexity, but odessa on the other hand...
the never tilting world is by no means perfect but i enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cannibalism and Vomit
lesbian main character, chinese lesbian main character, disabled south asian main characterbluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
I am having a really hard time figuring out what to say about this book. I think it's a case of my experieincing self and remembering self differing - I very much enjoyed this book while reading, but looking back I'm having a hard time saying exactly why. I think I mainly enjoyed the world and the plot and the creative mythology involved, because trying to write about the characters, I'm realizing that in retrospect they're all pretty bland.
There are four alternating perspectives in this book - Haidee and Odessa, the young goddesses, and Arjun and Lan, the goddesses' love interests and traveling companions.
Odessa, the goddess of the eternal night side of the planet, is the most memorable because of the great first-person narration of a character going mad. She's not unlikeable at the beginning - when the book opens, she's sheltered, bookish, trying to rebel a little against her mother's control, and not at all sure what to do about her crush on Lan. But Rin Chupeco does an absolutely stunning job with first-person narration of a person losing her self and not even realizing as she becomes darker and more unhinged. She became not at all likeable as a person but absolutely compelling as a character.
Lan, Odessa's love interest and one of her traveling companions, is traumatized. I really can't remember much else about her. Well, that and she's there to provide perspective to how unhinged Odessa gets as the story progresses. Lan led an exploring expedition, everyone except her died, and she has a lot of trauma around that. The trauma is handled really well, but it also seems to be her main personality trait.
Haidee, the goddess on the eternal day side of the planet, is Odessa's complete opposite. She enjoys engineering and mechanical tinkering, is full of compassion for everything and everyone, and embodies the bright sunniness of her side of the planet without going over the line into scorching desert. She wasn't a stand-out character, but she was definitely likeable - not a fascinating person or a charismatic personality, but honestly the only character in the book that I would want to be friends with.
Arjun, Haidee's traveling companion, was definitely the weakest of the four perspectives. That doesn't mean that he was bad, I just found him less compelling. He was a lot of the "orphan grows up with a bunch of other orphans raised by one adult and gets good at fighting and living a hardscrabble life" stereotype, with a few interesting additions that just barely keep him from being cardboard. He didn't have much motivation, though, which I think is why he was the least compelling. I also think his perspective got the least page time, but I didn't count pages to see if that was accurate.
I didn't hate any of these characters, but it was really the concepts that made me enjoy the reading experience. The magic system is really interesting (even if I didn't fully understand it), I loved the idea that the world is ruled by women who are supremely powerful goddesses and yet are mortal and every so often must be replaced by their daughters, and there are a lot more layers around the Breaking - when the world stopped spinning and divided into two kingdoms of eternal day and eternal night - and how it happened than appear on the surface. Even the settings are interesting, from a frozen fortress to seas full of krakens, golden cities protected by glass domes to creatures swimming through oceans of sand instead of water, there are a lot of really fascinating and creative fantasy things in this world. For me, the characters were more of a vehicle to explore this world and uncover its secrets, and that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Reading book two isn't high on my priority list, but I do intend to get to it eventually. The characters weren't stellar, but they were perfectly okay, and I wouldn't object to spending another book with them, especially since I have so many unanswered questions about what happened to break the world and what secrets Odessa and Haidee's mothers are hiding. And the broken world was such a cool setting, I'm excited to explore it more in book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Chronic illness and Sexual assault
lucystolethesky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Confinement, and Animal death
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, and Cannibalism
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.75
I loved this book so much! The plot is so interesting and I absolutely love the world building. Rin does SUCH a good job making these totally immersive worlds with their own lore and details without the feeling of info-dumping! In fact, most of what we know about the world we learn through the eyes of the four pov characters, who are all completely distinct! I love that. It can be really hard to do a good job distinguishing between pov's when there are a lot of them, and I didn't think this book had that problem at all!
I was definitely surprised by a lot of what happened but in a completely good way! I loved the characters and their relationships. This book was great and I can't wait for the sequel!
I was definitely surprised by a lot of what happened but in a completely good way! I loved the characters and their relationships. This book was great and I can't wait for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual assault
alicelalicon's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness and Cursing
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Grief