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oliverreeds's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Torture, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, and Violence
recycled_personalities's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
HOLY SHIT! Ok it’s like a little slow at the beginning BUT I SWEAR JUST KEEP GOING IT GETS SO GOOD. I’m immediately buying the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Medical content, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and War
Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Abandonment, Bullying, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Physical abuse
careinthelibrary's review
adventurous
fast-paced
2.5
I've really enjoyed all the mecha stuff I've read/watched before and typically really love these kinds of speculative/dystopian books. This one disappointed me on some fronts though.
The worldbuilding just didn't click/didn't make sense? It hints at the past but doesn't explain it enough for it to stand on its own two feet. Some things just don't really make sense, at least not the way they're presented. The Godolia empire is killing its citizens because...evil? I wish there was more development for this world. Or maybe I missed something?
One thing I'm sure of is that I think there are too many characters. We didn't need this big of a "crew". It just meant that a few didn't get developed enough to matter. They are not memorable and it just led to confusion later on. I don't think I could even name them all, let alone what their specialty in gearbreaking is. It's not so much about the number of characters (there are books with more that are done well), but this was too many, too flat, too shallow, too similar.
Sona and Eris start out really different and interesting. I like the premise and think those first few chapters are really strong. The author has a great concept on their hands. As their experiences become more similar, their POVs became harder to distinguish (they are both concerned with Gearbreaking activities, hating Godolia, their plans for revenge etc).
The book is either too long or not enough happens in the middle. The middle third feels like the plot is just "rebel against the overlords" with no real strong plotline to follow. Just random skirmishes and the crew arguing with each other. I was rereading chapters to try and figure out what was important in there and eventually started skim reading. So in terms of my thoughts on worldbuilding above, I may have missed important stuff because of this dull chunk in the middle.
I like the concepts, the writing was good, liked the two povs (although the worldbuilding definitely makes each one's backstory suffer). The author is clearly a creative, imaginative, ambitious talent. I wouldn't swear off their work in their future based on this since it does have good moments. But something about <i>Gearbreakers</i> just never came together for me, I was left waiting for this book to take off and it left me waiting past the first page. But not in a way that makes me want to read the sequel. I had a stressful January so perhaps this has something to do with my lack of interest in this novel, but not entirely. There are some definite parts of this that would never have worked for me.
The worldbuilding just didn't click/didn't make sense? It hints at the past but doesn't explain it enough for it to stand on its own two feet. Some things just don't really make sense, at least not the way they're presented. The Godolia empire is killing its citizens because...evil? I wish there was more development for this world. Or maybe I missed something?
One thing I'm sure of is that I think there are too many characters. We didn't need this big of a "crew". It just meant that a few didn't get developed enough to matter. They are not memorable and it just led to confusion later on. I don't think I could even name them all, let alone what their specialty in gearbreaking is. It's not so much about the number of characters (there are books with more that are done well), but this was too many, too flat, too shallow, too similar.
Sona and Eris start out really different and interesting. I like the premise and think those first few chapters are really strong. The author has a great concept on their hands. As their experiences become more similar, their POVs became harder to distinguish (they are both concerned with Gearbreaking activities, hating Godolia, their plans for revenge etc).
The book is either too long or not enough happens in the middle. The middle third feels like the plot is just "rebel against the overlords" with no real strong plotline to follow. Just random skirmishes and the crew arguing with each other. I was rereading chapters to try and figure out what was important in there and eventually started skim reading. So in terms of my thoughts on worldbuilding above, I may have missed important stuff because of this dull chunk in the middle.
I like the concepts, the writing was good, liked the two povs (although the worldbuilding definitely makes each one's backstory suffer). The author is clearly a creative, imaginative, ambitious talent. I wouldn't swear off their work in their future based on this since it does have good moments. But something about <i>Gearbreakers</i> just never came together for me, I was left waiting for this book to take off and it left me waiting past the first page. But not in a way that makes me want to read the sequel. I had a stressful January so perhaps this has something to do with my lack of interest in this novel, but not entirely. There are some definite parts of this that would never have worked for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, War, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Torture
dododenise's review
adventurous
dark
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
3.5
I just wasn‘t that into it. I don’t know where it went wrong, because it definitely isn’t a bad book. Somehow it just didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent and War
3lea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
MOTHER FUCKERS HOW TF WHY TF DOES IT END THIS WAY 😭
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Death
aus10england's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm sure this is an amazing book for the right person, but not for me. Some scenes felt like they took years to get through. Giant robots were cool, just thought it could have been explored better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
rainbcwboy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- 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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Grief, Murder, Child death, and Violence
ramunepocky's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"If this world has taught me anything, it's that humans have no right playing pretend at being Gods."
I absolutely adored this book with every fibre of my being; it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me tense and on my toes, it made me feel so many emotions. Sometimes the world building and fight scenes were a little hard to wrap my head around, but only because there are mechas involved and I have little experience with them besides a single anime and so they are an entirely new and overwhelming, but equally fascinating. Genuinely, the world building was so so so fascinating to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their world and how it related to the characters.
I LOVE THE CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK SO SO SO MUCH, esp Eris' crew; the found family element between those kids makes my lil heart so fucking happy. which is why it broke me so much when Xander dies I especially love Theo and Nova, and their entire dynamic just makes me laugh, and Xander esp when he steals the eye from Jenny for Sona that had me tearing up so much
Jenny was absolutely my favourite character, she made me laugh so much, I love her entire attitude and the way she just does not give a shit what people think, she just shouts at them and does whatever the fuck she wants bc she knows she can. Her dynamic with Eris is just perfect; the sibling bickering, but with real care and love underneath all that.
And of course, I loved Eris and Sona so fucking much. I cant even articulate just how much and why I love them, but Gods, I loved them.so so much and seeing their trust build and grow and turn into care and love
Also thebending !!!! Wtf !!! Im so glad I waited until Godslayers to read it bc I wouldnt have been able.to cope
I absolutely adored this book with every fibre of my being; it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me tense and on my toes, it made me feel so many emotions. Sometimes the world building and fight scenes were a little hard to wrap my head around, but only because there are mechas involved and I have little experience with them besides a single anime and so they are an entirely new and overwhelming, but equally fascinating. Genuinely, the world building was so so so fascinating to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their world and how it related to the characters.
I LOVE THE CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK SO SO SO MUCH, esp Eris' crew; the found family element between those kids makes my lil heart so fucking happy.
Jenny was absolutely my favourite character, she made me laugh so much, I love her entire attitude and the way she just does not give a shit what people think, she just shouts at them and does whatever the fuck she wants bc she knows she can. Her dynamic with Eris is just perfect; the sibling bickering, but with real care and love underneath all that.
And of course, I loved Eris and Sona so fucking much. I cant even articulate just how much and why I love them, but Gods, I loved them.so so much and seeing their trust build and grow and turn into care and love
Also thebending !!!! Wtf !!! Im so glad I waited until Godslayers to read it bc I wouldnt have been able.to cope
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
megj23's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: War and Death
Minor: Vomit
jessi21's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and War
Moderate: Vomit and Grief
Minor: Death of parent