Scan barcode
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Having trouble tracking the dynamics of the group since they’re already a team when the book begins. Also, for the audiobook, one of the narrators has a very flat affect which conflicts with the liveliness of the other narrator’s portions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, and Alcoholism
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't know how to rate this. Because there were things about the book I absolutely loved. And then there were things I absolutely hated.
What shines the most are the characters. They were basically what kept me reading. The story lives with these characters, their friendship is just so special and wholesome. So, I hated what happened at the end because this is just cheap writing.
And as much as I loved the setting and atmosphere of the story and the adventure of it, the writing felt very rushed and convenient most of the time. There was A LOT of world building crammed into a very small book. I could hardly keep up with every new description and magical object or power. When nothing else was going on, it was easy to imagine the magic and the locations, for example the amazing hotel. But as soon as there was action involved, I couldn't picture anything at all. Which is a shame because I feel these places were really cool. But I liked that riddles were included into the book, even though they were either too easy or too vague. And for someone who is interested in a lot of cultures and myths and history, there were a lot of references too (Maybe a little too many even...).
I'm not particularly interested in the plot anymore, but I will probably continue the series for the characters, their diversity and the discussions about colonialism and theft of art/cultural artifacts from other cultures. It's really cool that this is part of a YA series these days.
What shines the most are the characters. They were basically what kept me reading. The story lives with these characters, their friendship is just so special and wholesome. So, I hated what happened at the end because this is just cheap writing.
And as much as I loved the setting and atmosphere of the story and the adventure of it, the writing felt very rushed and convenient most of the time. There was A LOT of world building crammed into a very small book. I could hardly keep up with every new description and magical object or power. When nothing else was going on, it was easy to imagine the magic and the locations, for example the amazing hotel. But as soon as there was action involved, I couldn't picture anything at all. Which is a shame because I feel these places were really cool. But I liked that riddles were included into the book, even though they were either too easy or too vague. And for someone who is interested in a lot of cultures and myths and history, there were a lot of references too (Maybe a little too many even...).
I'm not particularly interested in the plot anymore, but I will probably continue the series for the characters, their diversity and the discussions about colonialism and theft of art/cultural artifacts from other cultures. It's really cool that this is part of a YA series these days.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Ableism
aseel_reads's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.25
2023: 4.25. unfortunately bringing down the rating :( while I still love the premise of the world, having a rag tag team of characters perform a hiest, and it being a historical fantasy that talks about racism/colonisation, I felt that the book itself wasn't as tight in execution. The pacing was choppy, some of the action scenes were long and confusing to read + we would get random descriptive paragraphs that were a bit excessive, and the arc of some of the characters is a bit confusing at times, just to name a few things. The final chapter still is a great plot twist and I'm still keen for the next book, it's just that the last 100 pages weren't as gold as the first 200.
2021: 5 stars I was hooked by page 50, I am OBSESSED with this book, this world, these characters omg. this has everything: cool magic system, fantastic historical element, a heist, a group of cool characters, omg I'm in love.
2021: 5 stars I was hooked by page 50, I am OBSESSED with this book, this world, these characters omg. this has everything: cool magic system, fantastic historical element, a heist, a group of cool characters, omg I'm in love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
brookey8888's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
4.5 I am so happy I loved this. Those last 40 pages killed me.
Reread
The ending just hurts my feelings.
The representation in this is *chefs kiss*.
Do I understand the world and magic when I’m reading this? Yes. Can I explain any of it? nope.
I honestly just love this for the characters and the relationships. The world is interesting and I love how the author incorporated some lesser know historical events in this(Human zoos tf is that???).
Reread
The ending just hurts my feelings.
The representation in this is *chefs kiss*.
Do I understand the world and magic when I’m reading this? Yes. Can I explain any of it? nope.
I honestly just love this for the characters and the relationships. The world is interesting and I love how the author incorporated some lesser know historical events in this(Human zoos tf is that???).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Death, Blood, Child death, Bullying, Sexism, Gaslighting, Grief, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Violence
More...