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aseel_reads's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Bullying
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
ashlikes's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Trafficking, Vomit, Abandonment, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Sexual content
mxkanteven'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? No
4.0
The perfect sequel to Raybearer and makes use of magic to tackle the realities of feudalism and power imbalance perfectly.
Moderate: Violence, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
a_libra_library's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Classism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Grief
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“in the words of my council sister Queen Min Ja,” I whispered back, “that’s what makes me so popular”
Graphic: Death, Acephobia/Arophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, and Violence
mental illness - heavy on intrusive thoughts *these are only ones that I caught/remembered please do not take this as the end all be all*overbooked207's review against another edition
- 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
1st book of February 2022 and 11th of the year:
I absolutely LOVED this duology, and this was such a perfect conclusion to the story! Once again, the writing, story, and world building were beautiful, immersive, and expansive; the audiobook was beautifully done; the characters were strong, badass, caring, and new favorites of all time, and I love them with all my heart; the representation was great; the quotes and themes were fantastic and important; and I loved the found family aspect so much! These books are definitely two of my new favorite books of all time, and I want everyone to read them! Also, they’re getting adapted, and I couldn’t be more excited! TW for death, murder, blood, war, anxiety, panic attacks, parental neglect and abuse, drug & alcohol use, ableism, suicidal thoughts, negative self image, grief, gaslighting, injuries, misogyny, and violence📚💜🏳️🌈
Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Confinement, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, War, Death, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
kaziaroo'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Slavery
meaghanelizabook's review against another edition
- 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: Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Grief, Gore, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: War
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- 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, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
In the first half, because Tarisai needs to get her own council it felt like she was doing again something we already saw the first time around. Much of the early book is figuring out what she needs to do, accepting that it's really the same thing that happened in book one and then doing it, which made it the pacing drag for me. Also by adding a second council of equal number to the first, it made the character list feel enormous and meant I had trouble feeling like I got to know more than a handful. I'm not new to large casts in fantasy, but normally there's more stratification in how important they are to the main character(s). In this, there was text telling me how important they all were, but not enough room to show scenes of all of them being very important in a way that showed that connection rather than just telling.
The second half is where it really shines, with answers to what was plaguing her in the first half, events moving more quickly, and a really fantastic ending to the duology. It proposes to answer immensely complicated questions in a very small space and finds a resolution to them which fits this context and characters. In a world where the Ray exists, it's a good answer.
The Underworld is interesting and well-described, the worldbuilding really shines there even though it's a relatively short section. The rest of the worldbuilding is very robust, with special care given to the descriptions of clothing from various parts of the Empire. It feels like a lived-in world, even in the small part of it that the story has time to cover directly.
This wraps up a very major thing left hanging from RAYBEARER. It has a storyline which starts here and wasn't present before, with several major things that are both introduced and resolved in this volume. It is the last book of the duology and it wraps up pretty much everything left hanging while also giving a vision of what the basic trajectory is for these characters after the book is over. It feels finished, which is good since there aren't any more planned in the series. The main character is the same as before, Tarisai, and her voice is consistent in this book. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if someone started here without reading RAYBEARER. This is book two of a two-part series, so please start with RAYBEARER. There's enough explanation that someone could probably get settled enough to enjoy the ride after the first 20%, but really it needs the first book to be whole.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit