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authorash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Physical abuse, Drug use, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
Familial Abuse:nicolef78's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
sestrout's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Gore, Child abuse, and Blood
jennaniho'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? No
4.0
Yet, the biggest focus "Song of Forever Rains" has is towards the lesson that our voice is our biggest weapon and ally; revealing that mastering when and how to use it empowers us to be not only assertive and potent but ultimately, happy and capable of facing even the hardest of challenges.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Self harm, Addiction, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment
laurenipsums's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence and Gore
ender24'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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug use, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
maggywaggy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
restingconfusedface's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
World: 98
Plot: 78
Overall: 87
- strong female characters and friendships
- abusive parental figures
- spy/assassin
- the world makes me want to explore
- Balls and gowns
It’s a spy/assassin plot line in an expansive open world video game world with a dash of pride and prejudice and delightful characters.
There is something extremely delightful about this book. The world is fascinating and the way EJ Mellows writes it is transportive. This book feels like it could have easily been a video game with Kaipo being the fast travel option. The world feels like a critical role world. It is just delightful. And even with the rich and vibrant world it felt light like the world building didn’t slow you down like it often does for me making reading fantasy novels a bit more of a chore. Needless to say I’m obsessed with the world building. It was unique and gritty and dark while still being enchanting and beautiful and light. It was the perfect blend between the elegance of historical romance settings with their balls and gowns and castles and propriety and like a glorious expansive open world rpg like breath of the wild or xenoblade. And we’ve only seen a silver of this world in this book. I can not wait to see more with the second and third book.
The characters are delightful. Larkyra is funny and mischievous and adds so much levity to this book. Which sadly I’ve missed from a lot of the fantasy novels I’ve read. She is such a strong and kind heart that just makes me want to be her friend. Darius is cute and he seems like he’s constantly out of his depth when talking to Larkyra and her sisters. He reminds me of a stray kitten. I love the banter between Larkyra and Darius. And Naya is going to be such a fun next protagonist. And given how wonderful the development of all the characters thus far I am excited to learn more about some of the more stoic characters in the third book, Arabessa and Zimri.
That being said I found the romance plot line a bit lacking, I’m sorry that kind of hurt to say given all that I love about this book. It felt a bit rushed at the end like once the actual plot was taking a rest the romance subplot was like boom sex alright back to the murder. Not to say their relationship was not developed but I feel like their interactions were meant to develop either Larkyra or Darius individually but not them as a couple. Also given the historical setting I was expecting a bit more longing and pining and more tension.
And the plot was a tiny bit predictable.
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Blood
art_books_chemistry's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
First, I wish there were more details is some parts. There were certain characters whose scenes were written as if we know everything about them, when we in fact no little to nothing as the reader yet. I'm always happy to see a map at the beginning of a book but I also think georgraphy should also be well-explained in the text. I do a lot of audiobooks, though this one I read via Kindle Unlimited, and a map only available in a visual format is a flaw over audio.
Secondly, I found some of the dialogue to be awkward in spots. One of the MCs (all of whom are high class citizens in this world) said "G'night" at one point which just felt off-kilter to the rest of the higher brow style dialogue language. I also had to roll my eyes at the use of "Sticks" as an expletive. The entire cast after the prologue is 19+ and I cannot understand why sticks of all words even is an expletive in this world.
Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline, there were some clever plot points I haven't seen done this way in other books. If you want a completely wrapped story in one book, however, you may not want this as only one of the two major plot lines is resolved in the conclusion.
Definitely recommend for fantasy lovers! It's also technically a slow burn romance with the smallest amount of spice for those looking for that!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Addiction, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
allisonwonderlandreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Terminal illness