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lilyg2704's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
leigh wrote a beautiful jewish historical fantasy book and i loved every minute of reading it :’)
Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, and Classism
Minor: Body horror and Physical abuse
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, Death, Religious bigotry, Grief, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Moderate: Vomit, Mental illness, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infertility, and Death of parent
Minor: Gore, War, Dementia, and Islamophobia
taryn_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Confinement, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, War, and Infertility
novel_nibbles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I throughly enjoyed this magical standalone. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy historical romance and the addition of magic was just *chefs kiss*. I was rooting for Luzia from the start I enjoyed her transformation as she stopped hiding her true nature and personality.
I enjoyed the romantic element but I would have prefer to experience more of the developing relationship on the page.
Minor: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Bullying, Misogyny, Abandonment, Confinement, Antisemitism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
lucyford's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Hate crime, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Sexual content, Deportation, Police brutality, Infertility, and Emotional abuse
morganish's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
What Worked For Me
The Characterization: I expected this story to be a little bit more straightforward in its depictions of good guys versus villains, but this one kept me guessing. Not every character gets what a reader might think they deserve, but its done in an interesting way that always kept me surprised. It felt a bit more truly adult for that. And in a way that's hard to describe, feels a little bit more like escapism for me personally, when I'm kept guessing and things aren't all predictable.
The Prose: The writing wasn't distractingly flowery, but there were moments of writing that felt beautiful and timeless. The writing style felt a little bit like it was leaning toward and influenced by fairy tales at times, and the last few paragraphs solidified that in a way that was really emotionally impactful for me.
What Wasn't My Thing
The Romance: I think that, because the story was a little removed emotionally, and because it's more historical, the romance didn't really work for me here. Especially because it followed a certain kind of trope which kind of seems like it's been done a lot (maybe that's just my age speaking). It almost felt like the writing decided it could skip big parts of the characters getting to know or fall for each other. The downside of that, for me as a slow-burn fan, is that it all felt really fast and I wasn't invested enough when I think the story expected me to be.
Who This Is For
My Personal Rating System
5 stars: I got so invested that it's definitely on my agenda to read other books by this author
4 stars: I would be excited to read another book by this author, but it's not a priority
3 stars: don't plan to read more by this author, but if assigned for a book club, I'd be cool with it
2 stars: don't plan to read more by this author, & if assigned for a book club, I'd be like, ugh, ok, fine
1 star: I will never pick up a book by this author again if I can help it (usually due to overt bigotry)
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gore, Misogyny, Infidelity, Slavery, Infertility, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Colonisation, and Death of parent
bergha1998'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
3.75
Historic Fantasy, Romance Subplots, 1 🔥
Graphic: Cursing, Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
riaroo400's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Blood, Grief, Antisemitism, Classism, Racism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Physical abuse
chronicacademia's review against another edition
Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Death, Hate crime, Body horror, Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Blood, and Murder
savvyrosereads'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? No
5.0
Luzia is a scullion in the home of Valentina and Marius Ordoño when her “small miracles” get her drawn into a dangerous tournament to become the king’s champion.
Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors, and this book absolutely reminded me why. I’ll start with the writing: it is STUNNINGLY good, with so many witty and beautiful quotes throughout. If I was annotating this, I could use up entire highlighter collections noting my favorite passages and moments.
Secondly, the characters. Leigh Bardugo writes a morally grey man (and just morally grey people in general) better than almost anyone in the game, and I am OBSESSED with how well she did that here. Santángel is easily one of my new favorite all-time characters, and I also loved Luzia, and (maybe controversially?) Valentina. Even the characters I disliked were so delicately rendered and fascinating to read about, which is the mark of a truly great book in my opinion.
Finally, the level of detail and historical research here is INCREDIBLE and makes for a wonderfully immersive read. Highly HIGHLY recommend!
CW: Death/grief; sexual violence; physical violence/injury; torture
Graphic: Classism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility