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inlibrisveritas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
mariamizhys's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
If the FL were a DnD character, she'd be a bard. She f*cked her way into a mess and by Elua, she's going to f*ck her way out of it.
First reaction: I liked it. It was emotionally engaging, the world was interesting and I found the characters curious. The plot was meh, but not bad. The world building and character work made up for it. I empathized with our heros and was genuinely on the edge of my seat during the finale battle because I was anxious for them.
After a few days of stewing over it and analyzing:
It's an epic fantasy set in an alternate history to ours in the early middle ages (7th or 8th century). The author made a few very bold and unique choices in terms of setting (for example: our heroine is a high class prostitute, and she likes it). The plot is tropy and predictable, and reminiscent of an epic Ballade ( example: the death of a mentor.)
but because the setting is so unusual the tropes seem less predictable because I haven't encountered them in these circumstances. The plot defiantly managed to surprise me on a number of major decisions. I like that.
One major criticism I have is, that almost every conflict seems to be resolved by Phaedra having sex with her adversary or letting them torture her. My default reaction to meeting a new character became: "Ah! And when is she going to f*ck him/her?". And that is just plain boring.
First reaction: I liked it. It was emotionally engaging, the world was interesting and I found the characters curious. The plot was meh, but not bad. The world building and character work made up for it. I empathized with our heros and was genuinely on the edge of my seat during the finale battle because I was anxious for them.
After a few days of stewing over it and analyzing:
It's an epic fantasy set in an alternate history to ours in the early middle ages (7th or 8th century). The author made a few very bold and unique choices in terms of setting (for example: our heroine is a high class prostitute, and she likes it). The plot is tropy and predictable, and reminiscent of an epic Ballade (
but because the setting is so unusual the tropes seem less predictable because I haven't encountered them in these circumstances. The plot defiantly managed to surprise me on a number of major decisions. I like that.
One major criticism I have is, that almost every conflict seems to be resolved by Phaedra having sex with her adversary or letting them torture her. My default reaction to meeting a new character became: "Ah! And when is she going to f*ck him/her?". And that is just plain boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, War, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault
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