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japanasi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
the themes explored were heavier than I had expected and the writing is rather complex at times and much of the magic system remains a mystery but I do think it is intended that way, so.. I mostly enjoyed that?
everything was wonderfully morally grey, the characters and storyline complex and twisted. I liked delving into the different perspectives (third person multiple pov! <3) and loved musing about who’s the villain here
not even the references to real life cities and personalities bothered me (which usually is a huge pet peeve in fantasy novels)
so definitely a huge yay!! from my side, loved it a lot!
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Terminal illness
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Death of parent, Child death, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
meredith_williams_'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing and Drug use
oliviafendrich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Antisemitism, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Vomit
kassidyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Child abuse
fierymoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
nicole_m'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: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, and Terminal illness
If the warnings above trigger you then i don’t recommend this book. If not give it a try if you like and enjoy!tinyelfarcanist'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
5.0
I was disappointed to see some of my favorite characters put aside when the central pieces for the overarching scheme became evident.
I anticipated some cliché characters and drama but was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait for the next installment.
Graphic: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Violence, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Drug use, Blood, and Alcohol
lessthelonely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was skeptical of it - and you might think it's because the book is self-published, but nope! -, mostly because the chapters weren't tagged in the contents of the eBook, somehow, so I assumed that the book only had 8 chapters. I was delightly surprised it wasn't true.
I actually went beyond wanting to read this book to actually reading it only because many people raved about it being MLM, WLW and also having heterossexual relationships. I get why that was said, but I was highly dissappointed to know that the LGBTQ+ content was mostly a sex scene and an I love you scene that was really intense but felt kind of flat for me: I believed this book was going to go a very certain way, it being with 3 pairs of closed emotional and romantic relationships but with added openness, as in... polyamory.
I was all in for that, and the thing is I was sort of right? There are very defined relationships here, but I don't think any of them actually reached what I was hoping, which is fine, if the sequel takes it from here. I guess I was just hoping to feel highly depressed about these 6 blaring attractive characters that were painfully my type (Nico de Varona, I'm specially looking at you, you little shit; Callum, you're second) just be happy, because their flaws could make me feel loveable, which is something I haven't been feeling a lot.
This book is PACKED with text. And I'm usually awfully skeptical of books who go for the mysticism and pretty words, but this book does it right. It's a lot of information and a lot of wandering, but it's always beautiful. One thing I noticed is that many chapters happened to follow a certain technique: we start at a point B, and right at the beginning the character focuses on something that happened before B, so A, after which they go back to point B and finish that little thread. I noticed it being used quite a few times, but it never deterred from the experience.
Other thing I feel like I must say is that even though I loved all these characters, there were some that felt a bit lacking at times, namely Reina, whose flaws weren't as explored as, for example, Libby's, Parisa's, Nico's or even Tristan's. Secondly, Tristan's problems seemed highly convoluted, and there's a scene that basically leaves him totally bare. I suspect that this was done to tell us there's more to him than this. If that's not the case, I'm going to be extremely sad.
Finally... Callum. I really liked Callum but he caused me severe emotional distress because No way you're that cynical without it having some real toll on you. I'm expecting that Book 2 will go into his actual flaws, because I didn't seem like we saw any flaws or vulnerability from him this book: what I got from what he's been through is that he's a victim and product of his own environment which... ouch, that hits close to home, but at the same time, I was always on constant edge reading his thoughts and feelings. It was highly distressed because it seemed like he's always on the verge of letting himself feel and be a bit truer to his own humanity, but that didn't really happen, not in this book.
Either way, that's the only reason I won't give this book 5 stars. Read it. It's dark, it's mystic, it's absolutely fantastic and it deserves the hype that follows it. Ms. Olivie Blake, thank you for your service.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence
luxvestravitae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury