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andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Sexism, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, War, Animal death, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Genocide
alanis_thespookyreader'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
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Violence, War, Blood, and Body horror
sandrae04'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
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Homophobia, Addiction, Grief, and Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Drug use
jlynnelseauthor'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? Yes
3.0
The book goes down a bit for its treatment of women. Many women are clearly there to entice the male reader. The main female vampire is often touching herself and trying to sexually manipulate the men chasing her...in public no less--very annoying. Women are often brutalized more explicitly than male characters. And if you're a woman, stay away from de Leon.
Besides a couple people, everyone else curses like a sailor. Every. Single. Person. There is an excessive use of the word c*nt, but most often its variations on f*ck. The book is also much more sexually explicit than I'm used to reading. There's even underage sex, including a drawn photo in the book, which is not a welcome addition. Finally, it's extremely violent and bloody.
With everything being said, there are epic battles, hidden religious secrets, a vow of vengeance, and a struggle of faith. De Leon is an intriguing character. Kristoff does have some beautiful passages about choice and life and fate. I don't know if I'd be able to read a book 2 as I can't imagine keeping all of this in my head!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Animal death
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
clairew97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Ableism, Animal death, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Abandonment, Bullying, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Torture, Alcoholism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War
thewereraven's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug use, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Cursing, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Bullying, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
thedevouringbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault
fivexfiveb'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Grief, Bullying, and Child death
anntharai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The issues I have with it REALLY irk me.
The world building is immaculate if a bit on the nose, really vivid writing and visceral descriptions, a great mechanic. Love the use of tattoos and the lore building. Overall I liked the story itself.
The issues, though?
I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the vulgarity because it was genuinely ludicrous at times. Swearing doesn’t bother me in the slightest but the lengths to which these characters went just to get a “banged your relative” joke in was over the top.
Everything has a simile. Everything. The doors locked like a secret. The floors cold like the night. The night air cold like knives. Wind like knives. Words like knives. Running frightened like a startled horse in a barn on fire and the devil whipping it all the way. The lips red like red things.
The repetitive phrases (fuck my face, like his lady’s lips the last time he kissed her, better a bastard than a fool) stopped feeling symbolic and started feeling like a crutch about half way through and using the same *twist* mechanic used twice (gender neutral names being the crux of two stories told so closely together) made it feel less polished than it could have been.
Thanks to various reviews etc I was also expecting a “big thing” to shock me at the end but I kind of felt it was obvious…?
Anti-climactic, in a word, but I do want to know what happens so it’s not like I hated it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, War, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Outing, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gore, Excrement, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Blood
darkmattersoybean'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Violence, Child death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence