Reviews with content warning for Blood - La Cité de Laiton

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

La Cité de Laiton by S.A. Chakraborty

111 reviews

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

There are many conflicting words and opinions that The City of Brass brings about. The most important one though is this: promising. It's marketed as adult fantasy, and yet you'll find many instances of tropes and ideas popular in young adult literature. The person of low social class thrust into a very powerful position of luxury, the romance between a normal person and a god-like but very dangerous but VERY hot individual, a healthy dose of normal person thrust into magical world they didn't know was there a la Harry Potter. Much of the dialogue sounds very modern despite the story taking place in the 1800s and many characters being hundreds of years older than that. Moving past all that, I would still recommend this book. Chakraborty understands her world and her characters well enough to give the reader investment and interest in this world. The novel's biggest selling point is the society she creates - the conflict between a pureblood upper caste and a mixed lower caste is nothing new in literature, but Chakraborty treats the plot with precision and care. No side is made out to be a faceless villain, but there's also no preachy sense of 'both sides are equally bad' going on. There's no sense of preachiness at all: the world feels lived in and at its natural conclusion of thousands of years of buildup rather than artificially held together for the plot. The pros outweigh the cons and I hear the sequels improve in spades. 8/10.

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librarianeno's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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

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bobbyeight's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am unwell. Just couldn't put the book down, it's 1am and now I don't know what to do with my life 😂 (thankfully I have book 2 to jump into)

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queerreaderchaos's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

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lesliehirgelt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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pandaintheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I loved this book.

I enjoyed the Middle Eastern mythology and the Muslim rep in a fantasy setting. Can't attest for their accuracy because I don't belong to the culture, but it was a nice change of pace. So, if you're a fantasy lover looking to diversify your readings, I'd definitely recommend this one.

The FMC is resourceful, brave, and witty, without falling into the "I'm not like other girls" type. She's also morally grey, impulsive, and relatable as a young character in a dangerous world with very high stakes she's learning to navigate. And she's not the only interesting one

One of the things that I enjoyed the most about this book is that every single character has its own voice. No one feels flat, and you end up caring for them no matter how little time they appear.

Yes, this is a YA story (or at least is how it's marketed around here) but it has very adult themes. Also, there are moments of very explicit violence. So, please, check the content warnings.

What could be a deal breaker for some readers but wasn't for me?

It's slow-paced, especially at the beginning. But as the first book of a trilogy, that's not surprising. Around the 50% mark, things start moving faster.

Also, the world-building takes a lot of pages. But given the complexity of the universe we're reading here, and the way it was balanced with presenting the characters and their conflicts, I was not bothered.

If you're a fast-paced, give-me-some-action-now kind of reader, this may not be for you. But if you want to give it a try anyway, I'd recommend the audiobook.

Also, I would like to clarify THIS IS NOT A ROMANTASY BOOK. Yes, there's romance, but it's not the center of the story. This is high-stakes fantasy WITH a romantic subplot.

Having said that, I loved the banter between the characters involved romantically. Some of the scenes got me giggling and kicking my feet in the air while making tea kettle noises.

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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

When I read this one, I was convinced I found the next best epic fantasy featuring people that may look like me and I hadn't had that since Sabaa Tahir's Ember of Ashes series and I was right. I loved this from the very start, completely hooked with every fiber of my being. The characters are immensely flawed and complex and I admit getting annoyed with a few of them probably more than others but that didn't make me love this series any less. Hell, even with my least favorite trope (a potential love triangle/corner), I couldn't put this down. So glad I started to read this when the whole series was finished because this does have a cliffhanger ending and I was screaming into the void when I got to it and went straight into holding the next one at the library. S.A. Chakraborty has become my new favorite of 2023. This is sure to be a reread in the future.

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