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fanboyriot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While I liked the idea of this book, fighting against a world were there was unnecessary hatred; there were just so many moments that made no sense with how the belief system worked. Not to mention how did all the Northerns, Southerners, Easterners, and Westerners all agree all girls who bleed gold were demons but girls who bleed red were valued?? You’re telling me not one person out of all the different ideologies each group had that they didn’t noticed an issue with their system??
I don’t know if it’s because I don’t care for first person point of view or just how the book was written but I didn’t get attached to any of the characters either which is really disappointing. However, the world building was easy to understand for a fantasy book. It was simple and to the point.
My biggest questions though is how did no one bleed before they were sixteen?! Women were not allowed to do “strenuous” work because they could NOT bleed before they turned sixteen years old?!
You’re telling me:
- No one lost their baby teeth until sixteen then?
- No one tripped and skinned their knee as a kid?
- No one had any medical issues until then?
- No one had bodily functions like periods until the minute of their sixteen birthday?
- That there weren’t any accidents in their everyday life that happened UNTIL they turned sixteen?
Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, War, Sexism, Death, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Animal death, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Child death, and Vomit
sammymilfort'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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Violence
dilara2912w's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Torture, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Rape
_alyssar_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Sexism, Sexual assault, Classism, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War
rustylasagna'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
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Religious bigotry, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Trafficking
bookforthought'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The cast is lovely and diverse and I loved Deka as the main character. It was refreshing to have a complex, three-dimensional black female main character for once! The female friendships in this were also gorgeous. I also enjoyed the worldbuilding and the internal mythology but my main issue with this book was that there was much too telling and not enough showing. There were a lot of very important underlying themes which definitely make this a valuable read, but my enjoyment of it really took a hit because of the way this story was told.
I quite struggled to connect with the writing style, which while easy to read was at times maybe overly simplistic. This is probably just me though, not the book's fault, and it may not be a problem for other (younger) readers. I also had some issues with the use of trauma in this, even though I appreciated the effort to show a wide range of experiences and reactions to some severely traumatic events.
This book gets pretty explicitly violent for a YA fantasy, so be mindful of triggers before reading this.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Death, Torture, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: War, Blood, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
analienfromouterspace'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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, War, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Pedophilia
gigireadswithkiki'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
4.5
I really enjoyed seeing Deka's initial character in the first half of the book. She felt like a truly accurate portrayal of a devout religious teenager, constantly admonished for daring to step the slightest bit out of line. Over time, Deka grows and flourishes with her little found family, but her character development felt natural along the progression of the plot. All of her friends, notably Britta and Belcalis, have distinct and unique personalities, and are unified under the banner of overcoming the misconceptions the world thrusts upon them. Most of all, despite Deka's romance arc, the story finds a way to center the importance of female friendships in a way that doesn't feel forced.
When I first read of the 20-year-long contract the aleki forms with the government, I was curious about how the pacing of this, in tandem to the promised all-out campaign against the deathshrieks, would play out. At times, the plot will skip around a week or more into the future, but I found that this worked fairly well for the story, cutting out more mundane story points such as soldier training and travel time.
I think my only issue with this book was the level of description for the violent scenes. I understand that alaki are immortal and virtually un-killable by human hands, but the depictions of gory stabbings and beheadings was a lot for me, especially for a YA book. There were also fairly numerous depictions of vomiting, both as a result of witnessing violence and as a symbol for unease, that was a little unsettling.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a great deal as I devoured it in 24 hours, and I'm glad I was finally able to get around to reading it after it sat on my shelf for 6+ months!
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Sexism, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Gore and War
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
teaqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I always get a bit lost with new characters as the story progresses and I forget peoples names, but I liked these characters. There's usually something about the main character or the love interest or their "love story" that really just annoys me because I don't like how love stories just HAVE to play a part in every damn book. This one wasn't too annoying, the focus wasn't on that, and rightly so. You could tell time was taken on each characters back story and they weren't just thrown in as filler. They have beliefs and experiences that made them the way they are, and I liked the progression and revelations of the last few chapters.
You can tell this is the authors first book because there were moments where a person or a place or a creature was introduced to the story and the descriptions here were a bit lacking, I found myself struggling to picture what was going on and wanting to know MORE, and that is really why I'm giving this book 4 stars and not 5.
I am looking forward to the next book!
Graphic: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
wirt'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Death, Sexism, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Sexual assault