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gummiefox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
noshakira's review
- 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
The only difficulty is that some names can be hard to pronounce (as with most fantasy novels) and keep straight, as many are similar or characters go by multiple names for differing reasons, so it's easy to get confused and I'd have to continually remind myself who was who.
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Death, Classism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Trafficking, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Incest, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
mysimas's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Another thing that irked me was the total absence of mystery. Everything was revealed straight away. Oh, so this person actually isn’t this guy’s mom? Huh, who could the real mom be — oh, the author tells us on the next page, okay. Ohh, and this person might actually be someone completely different? I wonder who — oh okay, I see. And so on and so forth.
Awarding stars for some good scenes (loved the kraken fight) and also the strange and addictive readability. I never like flashbacks… But here, literally 80% of the book was flashbacks (more if you count the asterisk notes), and for some reason it was ok.
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Child abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Classism, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Cursing
Minor: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
anni_swanilda's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gore, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, and Incest
Minor: Rape
andromeda_1998's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Trafficking, Rape, Genocide, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death, War, Mental illness, Gore, Violence, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Incest, Grief, and Gaslighting
anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Deadnaming, Confinement, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, War, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Biphobia
Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
lilifane's review
- 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
It's a story about a boy, Khirin, who grows up as a musician's son and thief. Until his insatiable curiosity and an enormous amount of luck (..not so sure if good or bad luck though..) turns his life upside down.
This book has all the things I love. Adventure, mystery, prophesies, incredible world building, political intrigue, conspiracies, secret identities, diversity, queer representation, magic, drama, a lot of humor and an endless amount of plot twists.
There are also things that might not be for everyone, but that I live for. Like the narrative structure. The story is told through 2 unreliable narrators (with hilarious narrative voices), they take turns telling each other parts of the story. It's ... complicated, you as the reader are thrown into a complex new world and have to figure out how it works on your own. (Although there is a glossary, I don't recommend reading it, there is not much help there but some spoilers if you check too early) Characters have epiphanies and strong reactions, and you just think "What the hell just happened? What is going on?" Eventually, you figure it out.... although it's difficult without drawing a chart of all the characters and their relationships to each other. It will be a messy one.
It's a dark story with lots of violence and death and torture and gore. But it's also one of the funniest books I've read in a while. It's a weird combination, but the humor took away lots of the darkness. Otherwise, it could have been a very depressing read. Instead, I had a great, enjoyable reading experience. The dialogues are to die for, very witty, I laughed out loud so many times. But I also got attached to several characters and got more emotional than I thought was possible.
Then there is the chosen one trope. I've become a little tired of it in the last few years. But the way this trope is handled here is very refreshing. And Khirin is such a fun chosen one to spend time with.
There are also short chapters. It was such a quick read and I literally couldn't put this book down. I love how, although it's so convoluted, everything fits together perfectly at the end. Every time I think about a tiny detail, it just makes sense. Every character's decision and reaction is logical or at least understandable from the character's point of view.
Oh, and there are footnotes. And they are everything! I was even sad there weren't more.
There was one thing that bothered me personally. Because I'm a huge fan of prophesies, I was a little disappointed that we don't actually get the full picture here. We just get bits and pieces of the prophecies and hints. But I really hope it's because there is more to come in the next few books.
Speaking of the next few books. I can't believe this is a debut novel. I can't believe this was published in 2019, and I haven't even heard of it until recently. I can't believe there are already 4 books out in the series, and the fifth and last one comes out next week?!
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery
Minor: Rape, Incest, and Infidelity
freya_amber'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
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Violence, Death, Confinement, Gore, Sexual violence, War, Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny
wxrldwalker'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship