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my favorite part of the story was in fact the characters. most with some notable exceptions i will talk about later are well-characterized and if they don't have a full satisfying arc they are being set up for one in the sequel; & inej ghafa might genuinely be one of my favorite characters of all time. i think you can say a lot of things about leigh bardugo and her writing but she is really good at 1. an ensemble cast of characters and the web of relationships that sprouts from that 2. a shocking twist. formula-wise it is a by-the-books mystery but it is tense & fun to read nonetheless. the prose can be corny in an overdramatic ya novel way - lots of monologues - but it doesn't detract from the enjoyment, at least not for me.
onto things i didn't enjoy; keywords here being nina and matthias. nina by herself is really fun with a lot of depth to chew on and it's nice to read a fat girl who is confident & exuberant like she is! but her relationship with matthias was just excruciating to read. the ultimate thesis to this relationship and arc of “we are all someone’s monster” – as said by matthias on the tailend of the book – absolutely does not work when one side of this equation is opressed by the other, and vice-versa. leigh bardugo writes this relationship as a microcosm of the war between ravka and fjerda; how it affects the young people (read: child soldiers) within these countries & the propaganda they are fed about the "enemy". HOWEVER, by adding the layer of "drüskelle" and "grisha" and subsequently flattening it into the larger conflict of ravka and fjerda, you end up with a shallow, infuriating and frankly pathetic look at the dynamics between opressed and opressor. why shouldn't nina hate the fjerdans? why should she respect their country, their culture? why should have to cede any ground, have anything to learn? if this was solely a narrative about two people from warring countries learning their causes are not as just as they were taught, sure, that would make sense; but because grisha are established as an in-universe marginalized group that matthias' country hunts, kills, enslaves and terrorizes - nina has absolutely 0 reason to do any of that. she shouldn't have to, frankly, but the narrative is written as if she does.
so tl;dr; i did really enjoy this book for what it is, but the nina/matthias relationship brings it down immensely. inej ghafa nation inej ghafa world
Graphic: Animal death, Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! 😍 All of the characters are so amazing and perfect and I wish they were real and that I could be friends with them. 🥰 KAZ AND INEJ ARE SO AHHHHHHHHHH! 🤩 (That was a scream) 😘 I also love the found family in this book. 🥹
The
Anyway, if you couldn’t already tell, I absolutely love this book and the universe. 🥰 My rating is 4.5 ⭐️!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Content warnings for xenophobia/racism, trafficking, child abuse, injury and medical content, violence, war, betrayal, genocide, addiction, slavery, and murder (all frequent) as well as bullying, guns, addiction, confinement, illness and child death, sexual harassment, and brief ableism and drug use.
Used for 2024 r/Fantasy Bingo (criminals, hard mode); also fits for first in a series, entitled animals, multi-POV (hard mode), character with a disability (hard mode), survival (hard mode), judge a book by its cover, and book club.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War
Do check trigger warnings.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual content