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dododenise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Unfortunately, this story wasn’t for me. While it has a great construction and the pieces are put together masterfully, they didn’t sweep me away. I didn’t care about the plot. The characters didn’t catch me interest. Kell bored me and Lila annoyed me.
I simply didn’t enjoy myself all that much while reading, although I really hoped to love it. Alas, this book wasn’t able to make me care about its story.
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: Torture
kaya_26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Torture
mirnda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexism
ekatayama'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
greenrequiem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Child abuse and Self harm
takarakei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- multiple worlds
- morally gray characters
- sinister magic
- well written villains
Lila is quite possibly in the category of my favorite characters ever. I love everything about her: her undying need for adventure, her quippy sense of humor, trying to pretend like she has a heart of stone but clearly doesn't... Here for it all + more! Overall this book didn't blow me out of the water in the way I was hoping, but I'm definitely intrigued and will be continuing the series.
I also listened to the audiobook while reading and this narrator did a lot of voices, but their initial typical narration (sounded like what I call 'fancy british') took some getting used to. I see that there are different narrators for the sequels so wondering how that will go...
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture
Minor: Sexual harassment
saricostanzo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Child abuse
trintrin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The world -- or rather, worlds -- were so beautifully written they seemed both realistic and magical at the same time. And Victoria Schwab's writing!! The way she describes things is simply wonderful. It's like she breathes life into everything that her words touch. That woman could write about paint drying on a wall and I would eat that up.
The characters are loveable of course. Rhy is such a sweetheart I wanna protect him from all harm. Kell is nice to read about. He's intriguing and I wanna know more about his past and also give that boy a hug. Lila, I'll admit, I found her boring and annoying and she came across as I'm-not-like-other-girls at first. Her POV was the only chapter that actually made me put the book down after starting. But she really, really grew on me and now I love her. As of now, the characters feel not as fleshed out as they could be, especially considering there's only very few main characters, but as this is only the first of a series I'm hoping it's explored more in the upcoming books.
The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the ending felt sort of rushed? Almost as if the book couldn't decide if it wanted to be a standalone or a series. Too many threads tied up too tidily and yet leaving room for a sequel.
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
irinareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Self harm, and Torture
horizonous's review against another edition
Graphic: Self harm and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Gun violence, and Medical content