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laurenkimoto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death, Slavery, Colonisation, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, and War
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Blood, Drug abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Racism
linluvsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Many complex themes are explored and the perspectives of several sides are presented. This is a smart book, more than an adventurous romp (which would’ve been great as well).
I keep telling myself not to fall into any more trilogies but then I return to fantasy and they’re inevitable…
Graphic: Blood and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Police brutality
Minor: War, Addiction, Hate crime, Infidelity, Cursing, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Self harm
isleoflinds'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: Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Rape, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gore, Genocide, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Incest, Sexual content, Torture, Infertility, and Infidelity
mjwhitlock18'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: Religious bigotry and Hate crime
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
Minor: Rape
readwithria'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Nahri and Ali’s viewpoints give the reader an insider and outsider view of Daevabad. The series is clearly meant to have Nahri as the main protagonist, however Nahri’s POV chapters have little to no plot in them. She is unable to make choices for a large portion of the book due to lack of knowledge <Spoiler> she spends the first 48% of the book traveling </Spoiler> and when she finally does make a decision it happens off page.
Ali, on the other hand, does seem to have more of a plot going on. It’s more of a plot via purposeful lack of action than a plot of action, but it’s definitely there. I found Ali hard to like at the beginning of the book due to his hardcore religious biases, but that gets easier to deal with as the book progresses.
All in all, City of Brass felt like a lot of exposition until the last point of action. Many of the main characters lacked agency, and the pacing was a little weird. I think that for a debut novel it did a great job of introducing us to the world, and I will be continuing to read the series.
Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Violence, and War
thoughtsontomes'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
I’ll be doing a full review and discussion on my channel.
Re-read 2022: I adore this book and it was just as good on re-read as there were many things I had forgotten. The scope of these themes, wrapped up in the immersive setting and with characters that you both love and hate, this remains one of the best books I have ever read and I'm excited to read this whole series this year.
Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
beccadamb's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, and Torture
emilyplun'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
3.5
I loved the world/setting, but the book overall left me frustrated. The whole story is full of "mysteries," but half of those are the main character just not knowing the basic workings of the magical world or its society, or an event in magical history that every other character is aware of. There are a lot of "who's behind this event?" mysteries too, but it's hard to get into that when the reader is only given a tiny trickle of info about how anything works. The ending was frustrating-- many mysteries weren't solved (which is fine) but a few that were solved weren't satisfying, and then more questions were introduced. I felt like I was drowning in things I didn't understand. As a reader, I wanted to know at least the basic facts that are relevant to a situation (like how x magic works, what happened during x event that everyone keeps referring to), even if the main character doesn't know.
This is really unfortunate since I love the world-building and the basic plotline. I might have to read the plot somewhere and intentionally spoil myself so I can read the sequels.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Trafficking
Minor: Rape and War
marissaboone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Blood, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, and Murder
dayday_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Torture, and Violence