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willow1113'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
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, and Medical trauma
alexalily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Slavery, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gore
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, and Pregnancy
keishbby's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal death, War, Torture, Rape, Death, Violence, Grief, and Blood
just_one_more_paige'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racism, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Torture, Sexual assault, War, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
jonezzzing's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, War, and Trafficking
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, and Rape
mariamizhys's review
- 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
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.
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, War, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault
leopardteeth's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Gore, War, Rape, Torture, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content