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thecatconstellation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
My only critique is that the council members are supposedly so meaningful to Tar, but only a few of them are fleshed out beyond the most basic level.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Classism, Blood, Child death, Xenophobia, Confinement, Rape, Murder, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, and Sexual content
fleur____'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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Misogyny, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Physical abuse, and Bullying
Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, Excrement, Xenophobia, Body horror, Classism, and Vomit
talonsontypewriters'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? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexism, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Murder, Xenophobia, and Classism
Minor: Slavery, Vomit, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, and Suicide
Relationship between characters with unspecified ages but presumably one around 15-17 and the other at least in his 20s. Crush/romantic undertones (no actual relationship) between characters later revealed to be related.ashlikes'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
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Grief, Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Stalking, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit
eni_iilorak'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
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, and Medical content
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Rape, and Slavery
akvolcano'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
3.75
Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Classism, Confinement, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Death, and Domestic abuse
emily_mh'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Child abuse, and Sexism
Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Alcohol, Ableism, Vomit, Racism, War, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: capital punishment Minor: self-injury, epidemic, mass death, volcano, imprisonment, floodstigger89'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
4.5
The central conflict is, of course, Tarisai's struggle to break free of her mother's command. I initially got some Ella Enchanted vibes from this setup, but the resolution wound up being so much more. It wasn't enough for her to merely want to disobey, or even to desire to protect the prince with her whole heart; to break a curse of this magnitude, it would take much more than that. I also appreciated how her mother was handled in the narrative. She wasn't purely evil, but she wasn't misunderstood either; she was a complicated, wounded character who committed great harms.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I'd expected to. It helped that the romance was firmly a subplot, and there was no love triangle. I'll say that again for those in the back: this YA title has no love triangle! It was so refreshing to see a depiction of platonic love develop between two characters. There was even a prominent character who was explicitly asexual. As mentioned, this is the first book in a duology, and I intend to pick up the sequel, Redemptor, whenever I manage to find a gap in my TBR(lol).
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
whimsykat'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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Grief, Slavery, Death, and Death of parent
jupiterlee'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Genocide, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Slavery, War, Violence, Death, and Abandonment