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sleepygym's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
elledanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Didn’t give us anything to like or reason to care about the main character. Nothing enjoyable about the dragons either, check trigger warnings. MMC and his friends/family are the only saving grace.
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and War
that_awkwardbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This was exactly what I needed. I got lost in the story and this beautiful world. I fell in love with these characters and my heart broke over and over .
I can't wait to see where the story will lead us . It's definitely a must read!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
mom_mac_89's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing. Loved the dynamic characters, the plot twists, the super wide range of creatures and climates. The characters are super well developed throughout the book, and the relationships in the book are deep and evolving or past coming to light throughout the book. I cannot wait for the sequel to come out!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder
crybabybea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I wrote a 3,000 word essay for how much this disappointed me, so here are the bullet points:
- Shallow world-building. There are cool, unique things that happen but they serve no purpose for the world (such as the dragons turning into moons).
- World building is lazy and the author relies on you reading a 20 page glossary to understand rather than fleshing out the world herself
- Dragons are part of the world but don't serve any purpose beyond transportation.
- No political strife, except for the FMC telling you how awful the king in her region is, despite having a crazy cool premise with a dragon mythology-based elemental magic system whose users are denoted by their colorful beaded earrings.
- Nothing happens in the plot except the very slow burn romance which doesn't pay off at the end
- Magic doesn't really serve any purpose except to sound cool
- The conlang is messy and doesn't work well
- The writing itself is clunky, full of heavyhanded metaphors that don't land
- Writing repeats itself multiple times with the same cadence and word usage
- Characters with no real personality beyond the tropes they represent, could be replaced with any other romantasy main characters and it would make no difference
- Poor LGBTQIA+ representation (despite it being praised in multiple reviews)
- Because of all these issues, the book is 250 pages longer than it needs to be.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
elntastic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
One thing I did not really enjoy (hence only 4.5 stars) were the sex scenes between the MC and FC. It was just too physical and there was no kissing or romance in it. Just wasn’t for me. But I do love the story between Kaan and Elluin and I hope that Raeve will go back to him.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
mxlili's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Torture
sandyanger'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
5.0
@sarah.a.parker.author
This book is not for everyone. I, however, loved it.
“Sadness is like stones that stack inside you, making it harder to move. Ignorance is my self-preservation tonic, and I’ll swear by it until I die.”
Raeve is a valued Elding Blade for the rebellion group Fiur du Ath. Her job is to kill. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down.
As painful as Raeve’s life has been, she loves living. Loves her beautiful world. But she does not allow herself to love, for fear of what she would lose. Of what she’s lost before.
This is book one in an unfinished series, but well worth the pain. I have already read it twice and will read it again right before the next book is released. I loved it that much. The writing is lyrical and can be dense at times—you need to be able to focus when reading. But the picture it paints is worth it. Sarah did such a beautiful job of making me feel for her characters. I had tears streaming down my face at points, which is always a reading goal for me 🙃
I found this very heavy on the fantasy and world building in the beginning. It comes with a glossary. For some people this will be a deal breaker. I get it. I started with reading the glossary and honestly couldn’t get through it without the context of the story, but it was helpful at times to refer to.
The spice is not plentiful, but it was spicin’.
SOME FACTS
* Fantasy heavy-there is a glossary
* Beautiful, lyrical writing
* Witty banter
* Multiple POV
* There are dragons
TW
* Graphic violence
* Sexually explicit
* Torture
* Implied threat of sexual assault
* Cruelty towards animals
* Abduction of an adult (implied off page and post-recounting)
* Death in childbirth (implied, off page)
* Abductino/trafficking of minors (implied, off page)
* Miscarriage (implied for a secondary character, off page)
TROPES below, proceed with caution:
* Strong, sassy, stabby FMC
* Emotionally available MMC/emotionally UNavailalbe FMC
* Revenge
* “Who hurt you?”
* One “horse”
* Enemies to lovers
* Forced proximity
* Slow burn
* Dark past
* Elemental magic
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
manaledi'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, and War
heyheyhailey1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Though the book starts out with *A LOT* of world-building, these complex pieces fall into place to create a really beautiful, new world. The magic system, creatures and realms of the Burn, the Fade, and the Shade make for a really intriguing and creative backdrop for this character-driven story. I think there are a lot of different parts of this world to explore throughout the series.
I enjoyed the character growth and occasional other POVs to break up the story. Personally, I am always down for a badass FMC with emotional baggage. My only gripe with this book is an overuse of the “forgotten past” trope. I definitely got lost a few times trying to keep up with what I was supposed to understand already vs. was supposed pick up as I go. You don’t end the book knowing how everything fits together exactly. I found it annoying that Raeve seems to know things that the reader doesn’t get any insight into which is frustrating and strange in a first person POV.
SPOILERS !
I will definitely read book 2 when it comes out, excited to discover more pieces to the puzzle about Raeve’s past and their implications on her future.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Misogyny
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt