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karcitis'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
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Murder, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Confinement, Deadnaming, Vomit, and Dysphoria
aexileigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Deadnaming, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
orion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: War, Bullying, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
the_vegan_bookworm'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Deadnaming, Violence, Child abuse, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Police brutality, Infertility, and Genocide
onthesamepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed Wyatt as a character overall, but he didn't always feel consistent. One moment, he'll profess not to care about something, and 50 pages later, it's suddenly a problem. He's angry at
Emyr one moment, and horny for him the next. Being in his head is a roller coaster, but I didn't mind it for the most part. I enjoyed his interactions with Emyr and his relationship with Briar, which was really sweet. I do think we're never really shown the depth of either relationship though, just told about it, which is unfortunate.
The two weakest parts of this book are the plot and the writing. The initial premise is already pretty shaky: Wyatt strikes a deal with Derek, Emyr's enemy/rival for the throne, to make such a mess of things that everybody will be against Emyr marrying him. And then he proceeds to supposedly cause chaos, but in a way that he's never caught at it, so nobody actually knows he's messing anything up. Wyatt definitely didn't understand the assignment.
There's also no sense of urgency; even big events get swept away under the rug in a very anticlimactic manner that makes one wonder why it was included at all.
The ending doesn't make any sense, even after it gets explained. I still don't understand what exactly happened, or how the explanation we're given matches with the actual events that occurred.
The writing doesn't really leave room for the reader to interpret anything by themselves. Everything is spelled out for you, from how Wyatt feels about what's happening now, to the parallels we're supposed to see between the human world and the faerie world.
There's also a lot of overexaggerating. For example:
It takes a minute for me to realize what he's talking about, and when I do, I desperately regret ever learning how to read.
The story is written in first person POV from Wyatt's perspective, which is common enough for YA. However, lines like:
But I'm not sure I should now. No, I probably shouldn't. Do I really want to--
Oh, it would appear I'm already pulling the deck out of my bag.
make it feel more stream of consciousness, which isn't really my preference when it comes to fantasy. I'm not interested in every single thought Wyatt ever has about everything, but that's kind of what I got.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug use, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Child abuse
mazomazli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It also feels like the story needed some rearranging and adjustment of length of various scenes. There was so much potential :(
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Drug use
Minor: Genocide, Dysphoria, and Infertility
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Colonisation, Racism, Grief, Blood, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Infertility
uranaishi'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
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Bullying
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Genocide, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Miscarriage, and War
bingo_banjo'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
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Murder, Toxic relationship, Deadnaming, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
oliver_bug'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
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Deadnaming
Minor: Child abuse