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asianfiles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Violence
vivelarevolution's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I read and re-read this series in high school and I absolutely adored it. I still do, in many ways. However, there are definitely some things bothering me as I re-read these books as an adult. Most glaringly: the relationship between Elias and Laia. It is acknowledged multiple times, as they get closer and the impending romance is either hinted at or haltingly kindled, that the power dynamics between them make a consensual relationship completely impossible. He is a soldier, an Aspirant; she is his mother's slave. They kiss anyway. And at no point is their age gap--seventeen and twenty--ever acknowledged as a part of this power dynamic or treated as if it could be wrong.
It's partially for this reason that I have tagged this book with the content warning adult/minor relationship. There is another adult/minor relationship which is not acknowledged as such in this book because it is a spoiler that I remember from a later book.Keenan, who kisses Laia and actively attempts to develop a relationship with her in this book, is actually thousands of years old, not human, and (obviously) lying about his identity. Frankly I can accept the presence of the second relationship more than the first because at least he is portrayed as a villain over it.
I don't want to hate this book. A lot of things about it were compelling to me--especially Helene and Afya Ara-Nur and Spiro Teluman. But I don't understand why this type of relationship has to be so normalized. Why could Laia not have been an adult in this book? Why could the Blackcliff graduates not have been the age of high school graduates rather than in their early twenties? Why did the author feel the need to initiate their sexual relationship not just while they are a slave and a master, but in the specific context of Laia being "given" to Elias as a prize? I genuinely cannot imagine what must have been going through the author's mind to set up their relationship in this way and act like it's okay.
And honestly, rape was used as a plot device just about every three seconds. The author wants to remind us Marcus is evil and we need to hate him? Let's have him threaten to rape Helene again! The author wants us to know how Elias is such a Good Guy Who Will Protect Laia From the Commandant? Let's have him pretend to rape her as a "cover"! The author wants to just, I don't know, fulfill some sort of quota for how many times she wants to include the word? Let's have Marcus beat Laia nearly to death and attempt to rape her unconscious body! It's just constant and excessive, especially for a freaking YA novel.
And this is less egregious than my previously listed complaints, but sometimes I can't believe this book was written by a woman. Elias spends the entire book "saving" every woman in his life from various threats (mostly rape) despite the fact that Helene in particular is just as skilled as he is and should be able to defend herself. The petty drama of pitting Helene and Laia against each other over Elias is so tired. The Commandant is the closest that the author comes to a female character whose motivations are not exclusively about a man, and she is just the most cardboard cutout Evil Villain Lady in existence.
It's partially for this reason that I have tagged this book with the content warning adult/minor relationship. There is another adult/minor relationship which is not acknowledged as such in this book because it is a spoiler that I remember from a later book.
I don't want to hate this book. A lot of things about it were compelling to me--especially Helene and Afya Ara-Nur and Spiro Teluman. But I don't understand why this type of relationship has to be so normalized. Why could Laia not have been an adult in this book? Why could the Blackcliff graduates not have been the age of high school graduates rather than in their early twenties? Why did the author feel the need to initiate their sexual relationship not just while they are a slave and a master, but in the specific context of Laia being "given" to Elias as a prize? I genuinely cannot imagine what must have been going through the author's mind to set up their relationship in this way and act like it's okay.
And honestly, rape was used as a plot device just about every three seconds. The author wants to remind us Marcus is evil and we need to hate him? Let's have him threaten to rape Helene again! The author wants us to know how Elias is such a Good Guy Who Will Protect Laia From the Commandant? Let's have him pretend to rape her as a "cover"! The author wants to just, I don't know, fulfill some sort of quota for how many times she wants to include the word? Let's have Marcus beat Laia nearly to death and attempt to rape her unconscious body! It's just constant and excessive, especially for a freaking YA novel.
And this is less egregious than my previously listed complaints, but sometimes I can't believe this book was written by a woman. Elias spends the entire book "saving" every woman in his life from various threats (mostly rape) despite the fact that Helene in particular is just as skilled as he is and should be able to defend herself. The petty drama of pitting Helene and Laia against each other over Elias is so tired. The Commandant is the closest that the author comes to a female character whose motivations are not exclusively about a man, and she is just the most cardboard cutout Evil Villain Lady in existence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Slavery, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Suicide and Child death
No-one is raped in this book, but there are multiple scenes of attempted rape. It is mentioned frequently throughout the book, mostly in the context of the constant threat of rape experienced by enslaved women. The two main characters, Elias and Laia, develop a romance over the course of this book despite the fact that Elias is an esteemed and powerful soldier and Laia is his mother's slave. They share their first kiss after Laia is "given" to Elias as a prize. Additionally, there are multiple scenes in which the Laia is beaten, branded, or otherwise brutalized due to her status as a slave. All of the enslaved characters have endured significant torture and violence, most of which took place before the time of the book and is mentioned in the past tense.roshans's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Spoiler free!
Would have given it a 4 but (all) the romance was really eye-rolling. Also the male lead is really, really horny. A bit of a slow start, I feel that parts of it could have been pared down. Over all a good book with interesting if not well done world building. The MC's personality is not one you see very often in YA, I wouldn't call her whiny at all but she is a coward and knows it. The other female lead is closer to what you see in YA but the book didn't focus too much on her. Now the MALE lead, HE. IS. SO. HORNY. Idk maybe I'm exaggerating but to me it was really really annoying. He's probably the character that goes through the most introspection and moral struggle, plus his circumstances are really interesting, if it wasn't for the horniness I would have like him more. Though, if I'm honest the character I'm most interested in is the male MC'S mother, she's pretty much a cookie cutter villain until the end, when we see how complex she actually is, I look forward to reading more about her.
Plot is basic YA-first-book-set-up, I'm not going to say much about it. Female lead is on an undercover mission for the resistance and goes from being a coward to growing a back bone, male lead wants to desert his faction but gets caught up in a a tournament and goes through a lot of moral growth. The characters, their backstories, and motivations make it interesting enough but like a lot of YA these days, book one doesn't give enough for you to decide how you feel about it.
Would have given it a 4 but (all) the romance was really eye-rolling. Also the male lead is really, really horny. A bit of a slow start, I feel that parts of it could have been pared down. Over all a good book with interesting if not well done world building. The MC's personality is not one you see very often in YA, I wouldn't call her whiny at all but she is a coward and knows it. The other female lead is closer to what you see in YA but the book didn't focus too much on her. Now the MALE lead, HE. IS. SO. HORNY. Idk maybe I'm exaggerating but to me it was really really annoying. He's probably the character that goes through the most introspection and moral struggle, plus his circumstances are really interesting, if it wasn't for the horniness I would have like him more. Though, if I'm honest the character I'm most interested in is the male MC'S mother, she's pretty much a cookie cutter villain until the end, when we see how complex she actually is, I look forward to reading more about her.
Plot is basic YA-first-book-set-up, I'm not going to say much about it. Female lead is on an undercover mission for the resistance and goes from being a coward to growing a back bone, male lead wants to desert his faction but gets caught up in a a tournament and goes through a lot of moral growth. The characters, their backstories, and motivations make it interesting enough but like a lot of YA these days, book one doesn't give enough for you to decide how you feel about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and Torture
Female lead is 17, love interest is 20 very casual talk of rape and assault, but no more than a forced kiss is shown, but there is a fair bit of violence against women Servants are slaves, who are tortured, mostly past but some non-graphic torturing The ruling class enslaves, raids an oppresses the MC's people, all of these things are shown not just mentioned Lots of death and blood
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