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queergoth_reads'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
It took me a few chapters to get into the book but I really did enjoy reading it. However, once Aurora woke up it kind of went downhill. Aurora spends her whole time showing that her allyship for the magical creatures from the first book was pretty much all performative. She really can't let go of what Alyce has done (which fair), but keeps putting her through this on again off again things which is just very toxic for everyone involved. Honestly I just stopped liking her and I was rooting for them to completely end their relationship.
Additionally I feel like there were a lot of loose threads that tied up too quickly and in a rather unsatisfying manner.
However it was the last couple of chapters that really frustrated me.
And then there was Aurora getting all the power to unite the kingdoms. I don't think she deserved that at all. And I can't think of anyone worse for the job after the way she acts throughout the book.
Honestly I'm glad Alyce and Aurora don't end up together but I wish it had been a clean break, none of this maybe we'll get back together in 100 years because you are my true love stuff.
Overall I think this book had so much potential. I really do enjoy the author's writing and her characters. I could 100% have read a whole book on Alyce, the dark court and their war. I'd even enjoy Derek being there.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Toxic relationship, War, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery
scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Prose: 4 ★
Pace: 3 ★
Concept/Execution: 4 ★/3★
Characters: 3.5 ★
Worldbuilding: 3.5 ★
Ending: 3.5 ★
Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, Bullying, Hate crime, Murder, Death, Grief, Slavery, and Blood
Minor: Gaslighting, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
ashley_mrose530's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
kathrynhoss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence
jay_da_bookworm's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Classism, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Graphic: Death and Self harm
Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Gore, Blood, War, Physical abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Torture, and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Child death
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Minor: Slavery, Confinement, and Racism
sourcandies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Blood
maya_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Child death
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really liked Malice when I read it last year, and I wasn’t sure the sequel was going to hold up. To my pleasant surprise, I liked Misrule even more.
It’s been one hundred years since Aurora fell into an enchanted sleep and Alyce burned most of the kingdom of Briar to the ground. All but one of the side characters are dead. Alyce, now going by the name Nimara, rules over the Dark Court, a place of refuge for all the creatures who are welcome neither are the fae courts nor in the human realms.
Misrule is a very different beast from Malice. This is a book about morality, about moral greyness, about collective memory and trauma, about personal and cultural growth, and about the very concepts of good and evil. Everyone in this book does awful things, and no one in it feels fully irredeemable. Needless to say, I was impressed.
There were a lot of plot twists that I didn’t see coming and that were executed very well. The character of Derek in particular was utilized in some very interesting ways. I won’t say more than that because I want readers to be able to go on that journey themselves.
And of course, the sapphic element of this book is fantastic. The romance is much less important here than it was in book one, but I loved the way that Heather Walter explored Alyce/Nimara and Aurora’s relationship. If you’re okay with fictional relationships being angsty and a little fucked up, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
The beginning of the book was slow and very confusing, mostly because nothing was the same from book one, but once the plot got going, I read through to the end in two days.
I do have one major issue with this book, and it’s more of an issue because it seems to be a pattern in Heather Walter’s work: the only important character who is firmly stated to be a dark-skinned person of color dies in service of the nonhuman but white-coded main character’s growth. This happened in Malice as well, and there simply is no excuse for this in 2021/2022.
Graphic: War, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Slavery, and Death of parent
Minor: Gore
Additional content warning for the sort of dubious consent inherent in a sleeping beauty retelling.