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spaghettii's review
- 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
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Death, Death of parent, and Genocide
kananineko's review
- 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
3.5
So, I loved the characters in this, especially the two main characters. I felt really connected to them, felt they were distinct, easily rooted for them, and loved their relationship and all of its developments. I also loved pretty much all of the side characters even though they weren't very fleshed out (I thought that was okay because this book really focused on the two MCs). The found family dynamic in this was amazing as well.
The atmosphere of this book was really cool and I enjoyed the idea of the Windups (mechas) and Gearbreakers. But I will say that the worldbuilding was... kinda bad tbh. I didn't really understand the whole thing with the Windups being gods but also not really, and there was a lot of worldbuilding infodumping early on in the book that didn't really make logical sense...
And this leads me to my point about this book making me realize that maybe I need to stop reading YA scifi/fantasy. The iffy worldbuilding and teenagers-overthrowing-an-evil-government plot strongly reminded me of all those YA dystopias that were really popular back in the 2010s. Don't get me wrong, not all of those were bad, and I think this is leagues better than a lot of them (especially relationship/character-wise) but I'm starting to realize that I'm finally tired of those types of books.
And the writing style was the worst offender in terms of YA typicality. The author is definitely talented and I'm sure a lot of people will love her writing, but to me it just felt so... overdone. Overdramatic. Dare I say... "I'm 14 and this is deep"? Even when I empathized/agreed with things the characters were feeling or thinking, I couldn't stand the way the author phrased them. And there were so many one-line paragraphs!
So.
Many.
Why? Just why?
And this is coming from someone who loves flowery, metaphor-heavy writing (ex. Laini Taylor). It wasn't done well here in my opinion. It wasn't unreadable, but did make the story a bit clunky at times, especially during fast-paced action scenes. I just think that the writing style and the plot and world are so deeply YA, which is totally okay! Just not something I am super into anymore.
You're probably wondering why, after that rant, I'm giving it 4/3.5 stars, but it's because, despite my complaints, I had a lot of fun reading this! I really enjoyed the characters, their relationships, and the found family dynamic. I found it relatively easy to read and fun. I'm also hoping that the worldbuilding will get a little more solid in the sequel, which I will be reading because I want to see the characters get a happy ending (hopefully).
However, no matter how enjoyable I found this book to be, I don't think I want to read any more fun but shallow YA dystopian/scifi/fantasy stories anymore. This very well may be my last one. Actually, that will probably be the sequel to this book, but oh, well. Point still stands.
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, War, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Kidnapping
izardfg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
qraveline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, and Genocide
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
relin's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Torture, Medical trauma, Medical content, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Grief, Child abuse, Gore, War, Cursing, and Bullying
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Vomit
cottlestonpie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, and Gun violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Genocide, Gore, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Stalking, Infidelity, and Cursing
ibazelle's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Torture, War, and Murder
starccato's review
- 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, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Slavery, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Stalking