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errie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, War, Child death, Genocide, and Child abuse
madamenovelist'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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, War, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, Child death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Misogyny, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
relin'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
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Slavery, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Murder, Medical content, and Genocide
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Hate crime, War, Outing, Alcohol, Cursing, and Self harm
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, and Xenophobia
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
bookishfaye'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
4.75
🍂 positives:
- I love all of the characters and how complex they are & the dynamics between them all!
- the world is so interesting & vivid & the magic system is so unbelievably cool & unique
- I love where the storyline is going & how this set up the next book is absolutely *chefs kiss*
- I love how easily digestible this writing style was
🍂 negatives:
- the beginning 1/3 of this book felt a tad info dumpy on Ali’s perspectives,
- the pacing throughout the middle chunk of the book did feel quite slow at times & almost took me out of it here and there
Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, War, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual violence
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
mscalls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and Medical content
teri_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Now finally, I made it to this trilogy.
Loved to go to Daevabad and discover the many layers of the city and its inhabitants.
Was at the beginning rather lost with all the specific names and concepts that were thrown at me. After a while the story took over and it became a read that just wanted to be finished.
Now, I am curious to see how the story continues.
Graphic: Death and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Torture, Violence, and War
thereadingshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Trafficking, Violence, and War
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual assault
booksthatburn'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
5.0
This generally avoids infodumps by making sure that, when exposition is necessary, it comes in the form of telling someone information that’s truly new to them. Sometimes that’s a briefing for an unfamiliar situation, other times it’s a story around the fire. A lot of these explanations happen early on, and it seemed like a bit much at first (there are a lot of tribes, for one), but the main narrative only demands consistent recognition of three or four tribal names so it wasn't overwhelming once the story got going. The two main characters have very different lives and knowledge bases, and that works together to give the reader a fuller picture of the world and the secondary characters.
I love the political wrangling and intrigue. Ali is pretty blunt, surrounded by much more subtle players with complicated aims, and there are a few places where people use insider terms to tell him what’s going on but he doesn’t realize that a double meaning is involved. Later when Mahri becomes immersed in it she's a much savvier player with the information she does have, and I'm looking forward to how she handles things as the the trilogy progresses. I love heists and thieves, so having Mahri the con artist as a protagonist is a treat. She's self confident but wary of the situation, and that blend of prowess and uncertainty is truly delightful. There's something great about taking a person highly skilled in one arena and dropping them into a wholly different one that brings out their known and unknown strengths in intriguing ways. Dara isn't a point of view character, and I think that's because he knows too much to be a good narrator. The story is so much richer for his presence, but he's stingy with information, doling it out only when he thinks Mara needs to know something, which is often well after he's acted on the knowledge. This leaves her to pick up the pieces each time, in turns fond of and exasperated by him as he drifts in and out of the scene.
The ending is rather shocking, managing grief and triumph as Mahri and Ali have to deal with sudden changes in the last chapters. It's not a twist of plot as much of the inevitability of consequence, as things that had been a little bit wrong for a while suddenly get out of control. I'm excited for the next one, I need to know what happens now.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Antisemitism, Excrement, and Rape
CW for major character death (graphic).