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midnightsharkist'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
3eggomelet'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, and War
melliedm's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
An excellent anti-imperialist YA fantasy. Easily the best YA I’ve read in a long time. I had started to think maybe I no longer enjoyed YA, but it turns out I was just waiting for a book like this.
Tarisai was born for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the emperor’s son, and end the imperial line. To do so, she will first have to love him and enter his trusted circle. But are our children just malleable tools for our machinations, or people capable of seeing different futures?
This book manages to avoid some of the most overdone tropes in the genre whilst using others with absolute grace. The characters are varied and well-written, each with their own ideals and desires. The plot feels intentional and the results hard-won, and not a given simply because “it’s gotta have a beginning middle and end”
My only problem with this book, and the reason for the docking of .25 stars, is the weird as heck relationship between two side characters. I won’t spoil much, but one of the characters is established to be around 20 at the beginning of the book, when the main character is around 12. The other side character is described to be about the same age as the main character. So when the main character is 16, we have a 24 year old side character developing a romance with a 16 year old side character? What? Did I misread something? Did I misunderstand the timeline? It made me extremely uncomfortable. But it’s such a small part of the book and something I could ignore with relative ease, so I don’t think this one strange aspect detracts from the rest of the book’s beauty.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicidal thoughts
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
My only critique is that the council members are supposedly so meaningful to Tar, but only a few of them are fleshed out beyond the most basic level.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, and Alcohol
fleur____'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Body horror, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, and Classism
talonsontypewriters'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Relationship between characters with unspecified ages but presumably one around 15-17 and the other at least in his 20s. Crush/romantic undertones (no actual relationship) between characters later revealed to be related.linblythe_pub22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ashlikes'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Pregnancy
theaceofpages'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? Yes
4.5
The book mainly focusses on Tarisai's journey and I loved seeing her grow and become more confident through the pages. We meet her as a child and learn more of her world as she matures and grows up. The whole concept of the curse is fascinating and I loved seeing her struggle with it, her largely unknown family and what she wants for herself. I enjoyed seeing the subtle shifts in the writing as she grew up to reflect her own changes. While this book is marketed as YA, it is definitely just as suitable for adults. It feels a lot more fleshed out than a lot of the YA books I've recently read and doesn't rely on romance to push the plot forward. The characters feel real and I think that people of all ages can It focuses a lot less on romance than modern YA books seem to and spends more time looking at self growth and destiny and the importance of other forms of love (something I absolutely love and want to see way more of in books). While some characters were definitely more of a focus than others (especially Tarisai and Dayo), all of them felt well thought out. I very much enjoyed how deeply flawed they all were and learning about their weaknesses and fears just as much as their strengths.
There is a lot of beautiful imagery in this book and I liked how it tied back to its African folklore inspirations. The author did reuse a lot of descriptions though and often in the same scenarios. I enjoyed the unique magic system and the concept of the council. The way it works and grants power is fascinating. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. The world is clearly well thought out and the book does and incredible of of exploring it and just how diverse all its cultures are, while also looking at the dangers of xenophobia and attempts at cultural suppression for the sake of conformity. Although I felt some parts towards the end were a little bit expositiony, this is largely done in a natural way through the plot.
I can definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers who would like to explore a unique world, particularly those who would like to read beyond the typical European-inspired fantasy realms (not that there is anything wrong with them of course). And to those who enjoy YA fiction but are tired of how romance and love triangle heavy the genre has gotten. I will definitely be reading the next book as this one, while it has a good end point, definitely leaves a lot of questions unanswered about the future of Tarisai's world
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
vcriveros's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The characters are interesting and so sweet, and the protagonist, Tar, is really cool.
Minor: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia