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edamamebean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Definitely not my favorite Allison Saft, but still very enjoyable. I liked the gothic vibes, even though the mystery ended up being kind of predictable. I also really liked the overarching message that empathy and emotion isn’t weakness, and that your identity is made up of more than just your work. The romance was hard to root for at first because GIRL, THAT IS A WHOLE ASS WAR CRIMINAL!! PUT HIM DOWN YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE HE’S BEEN!!! But ultimately Hal Cavendish did win me over…not so sure I like what that says about me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent
mimmixoxo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug use
Minor: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Deportation, Gore, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
I enjoyed Wren as a queer protagonist who never has her queerness be questioned or even be an issue within the text. She's in love with her superior officer and best friend, someone who cares about her but doesn't put anyone above her own work as a soldier. Wren's interest in anatomy and the more scientific aspects of medicine are used but not really appreciated by those around her, because they don't understand the value of this learning and the additional lives that can be saved by combining scientific knowledge with magic. This lack of emotional support from those around her also leads Wren to be more vulnerable when it seems like her knowledge is finally being appreciated by someone who is in a position to help her. She receives a letter from a lord from a neutral nation who promises her political help if she'll come save his servant from a mysterious illness.
When she arrives, the lord is eccentric and the patient she was summoned to save is Hal, a war criminal and former child soldier. He's an assassin who can kill with his magic gaze, and the lord seems to have no idea, demanding that Wren do all she can for his "servant". Gradually, it becomes clear that Hal's illness is more complicated (as are her growing feelings for him), and Wren will have to choose between turning him in and stopping the war.
I saw a review which characterized Wren's dilemma as a choice between supporting a current war criminal or a former war criminal. That is definitely literally a choice that gets made at several points in the text, and somewhat dampened some of my enjoyment of the story. However, I did appreciate it as a narrative about two people who didn’t have much choice about whether to join their respective nations' militaries, but now are trying to find other paths for themselves and stop those who want a war to continue. When the options are to root for the character who was a child soldier but now is trying to stop the violence, or to support the character actively kidnapping and torturing people for his own personal and political gains... that's not nearly as tricky of a problem for me as this other reviewer found it.
One of my favorite worldbuilding details is the way that the small cluster of three countries (two of which are shown) have very different levels of technology, largely driven by whether or not their citizens have access to magic. Next is the way that this feels like a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It's probably not meant to be one, however, so many of the larger story beats fit neatly into the mold of that narrative, that, at the very least, someone who loves Beauty and the Beast (depending on the reasons) would likely be very interested in this book. It has a snow-covered castle lorded over by a strange man with strict rules about where the heroine may or may not go, an arbitrary timeline to solve a strange problem, a ball, and lots of wound care. The cadence of the plot follows that other one in some interesting ways, but getting into those details would be too many spoilers.
When she arrives, the lord is eccentric and the patient she was summoned to save is Hal, a war criminal and former child soldier. He's an assassin who can kill with his magic gaze, and the lord seems to have no idea, demanding that Wren do all she can for his "servant". Gradually, it becomes clear that Hal's illness is more complicated (as are her growing feelings for him), and Wren will have to choose between turning him in and stopping the war.
I saw a review which characterized Wren's dilemma as a choice between supporting a current war criminal or a former war criminal. That is definitely literally a choice that gets made at several points in the text, and somewhat dampened some of my enjoyment of the story. However, I did appreciate it as a narrative about two people who didn’t have much choice about whether to join their respective nations' militaries, but now are trying to find other paths for themselves and stop those who want a war to continue. When the options are to root for the character who was a child soldier but now is trying to stop the violence, or to support the character actively kidnapping and torturing people for his own personal and political gains... that's not nearly as tricky of a problem for me as this other reviewer found it.
One of my favorite worldbuilding details is the way that the small cluster of three countries (two of which are shown) have very different levels of technology, largely driven by whether or not their citizens have access to magic. Next is the way that this feels like a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It's probably not meant to be one, however, so many of the larger story beats fit neatly into the mold of that narrative, that, at the very least, someone who loves Beauty and the Beast (depending on the reasons) would likely be very interested in this book. It has a snow-covered castle lorded over by a strange man with strict rules about where the heroine may or may not go, an arbitrary timeline to solve a strange problem, a ball, and lots of wound care. The cadence of the plot follows that other one in some interesting ways, but getting into those details would be too many spoilers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Violence, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: War, Alcohol, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Torture, and Child death
kalmia31's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism
Minor: War, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Xenophobia
escapinginpaper's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
There was a lot about this book I liked. It's an enemies-to-lovers story, set in a high fantasy world with a time period that seemed equivalent to about Victorian-Edwardian times, about two countries that have been at war for centuries.
Main character Wren is a magic-user whose specialty is healing. She is kicked out of the Queen's Guard after one-too-many mess-ups, which devastates her because she has to leave behind the woman she loves, her chance at proving herself to her aunt, the Queen, and her chance to help solve the mystery of her comrades disappearing. When she's invited to heal the servant of a mysterious lord from a neighboring neutral country, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. However when there she discovers the "servant" is actually her mortal enemy & perceived war criminal, Hal.
This was a super slow-burn romance, high fantasy, and gothic murder mystery all-in-one. I really liked the vibe of the whole story, the setting, and the magic system. This has a lot of tropes, but they were done really well and I loved reading them – enemies-to-lovers; "there's only one bed"; mysterious, brooding hot dude with black hair.
My biggest complaint about this one is that it reads like it was rushed – especially towards the end. I think this would have been well-suited as a duology. The romance is really good... but ultimately the characters know each other for about two weeks and they decide they're in love. This bothered me... There are also other redemptions & character developments at the end that felt like they needed more time to... well... develop.
I did really like the ending, but it also really really made me wish there was a sequel! There is so much that the two main characters could do that I would really love to read. Overall, what a great debut novel – I can't wait to see what else Saft will write.
Main character Wren is a magic-user whose specialty is healing. She is kicked out of the Queen's Guard after one-too-many mess-ups, which devastates her because she has to leave behind the woman she loves, her chance at proving herself to her aunt, the Queen, and her chance to help solve the mystery of her comrades disappearing. When she's invited to heal the servant of a mysterious lord from a neighboring neutral country, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. However when there she discovers the "servant" is actually her mortal enemy & perceived war criminal, Hal.
This was a super slow-burn romance, high fantasy, and gothic murder mystery all-in-one. I really liked the vibe of the whole story, the setting, and the magic system. This has a lot of tropes, but they were done really well and I loved reading them – enemies-to-lovers; "there's only one bed"; mysterious, brooding hot dude with black hair.
My biggest complaint about this one is that it reads like it was rushed – especially towards the end. I think this would have been well-suited as a duology. The romance is really good... but ultimately the characters know each other for about two weeks and they decide they're in love. This bothered me... There are also other redemptions & character developments at the end that felt like they needed more time to... well... develop.
I did really like the ending, but it also really really made me wish there was a sequel! There is so much that the two main characters could do that I would really love to read. Overall, what a great debut novel – I can't wait to see what else Saft will write.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual content, and Murder
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