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woolerys's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 3/5
Characters - 3/5
World-building - 4/5
Personal tastes - 4/5
TOTAL: 3.6
The main character and the dragon (it’s not a spoiler to say there’s a dragon, right? it’s on the cover) are the highlights. I found the MC very relatable—wanting to ignore the political tensions they are enmeshed in, not wanting to truly hurt anybody, just wanting to paint!
I wish there had been as much deeply-felt emotional angst around the love interest as there was for the sibling relationship. Not that I minded the sibling relationship getting higher priority, it just felt like for the romantic relationship, a lot of emotion was implied rather than described.
The world-building was also cool, with a focus on visual arts and their underlying philosophies. The magic felt a bit runaway as the story went on but the concept was original and intriguing.
Graphic: Confinement, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: War
Minor: Torture
citymouse's review
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Sexual content
aardwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
The magic system is stellar, the worldbuilding is lovely (and brutal), and you get to make a dragon friend, which improves any book a thousandfold. Lots of political intrigue, a paucity of right choices, and horrible consequences, avoids giving pat answers to hard questions.
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Death, Police brutality, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, War, and Violence
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