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mariah13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
ghouligan'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
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Although the story is historical fiction inspired by West African folklore, the author has created a story that mirrors many current events in the U.S. and across the globe.queenie_ofthe_void'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
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia
pagebypaigereviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
--A Song of Wraiths and Ruin
Once every 50 years a comet passes by Ziran, and its people hold a week long celebration to usher in a new era. But unbeknownst to the majority, the comet's passing has even greater significance than just a reason to party. Malik and Princess Karina each harbor dangerous secrets, which leads them on separate, deadly missions to save someone they love.
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is told from two perspectives: Malik and Princess Karina. Each main character has their own mental health struggles and unresolved trauma. It features a unique magic system and world building. I was fascinated by the concept behind the belief system, but the amount of world building did make it slower for me to get into. Most of the action picks up in the second half of the book. The end was a series of shocking reveals that had me yelling at my book!
One thing that kind of bothered me was the ease with which each of the characters considered murder. I thought there would have been more moral qualms associated with the act. It also seemed a little repetitive at times. At the end, I still had a hard time understanding everything about the magic system, so I hope we get more explanation in the next book.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Gore
Minor: Vomit, Slavery, and Genocide
abutler'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Xenophobia and Grief
Minor: Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
alizam'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
Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Xenophobia
chelseawrites21'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
3.75
Pros
+Malik personality. You don't see much soft bois in YA. Malik was so soft and adorable and empathic. It nice change from these brooding bad boys about we always see.
+anxiety rep. The anxiety rep is so good especially when Malik had a panic attack. I am so glad to finally see some good mental health rep. I especially since love or anything else didn't cure his anxiety by the end.
+competition. I like the idea of the Champion competition and the different Aligned champions
+the twists and turns at the end redeemed the book for me and made me look forward to reading the sequel.
+history. Learning some of the history and how it all came into play at the end was interesting.
Cons
-slowpaced. I feel like the focus is so heavy on emotions and not enough on the characters task. I feel like that got nothing done until late in the book.
-Karina. Karina was so immature and infuriating to read about. She was constantly making rash decisions in her hot headness. She was also pushed everyone away and damaged her image. I mean, I know she's a teenager dealing with a lot of unprocessed grief, but that did make it any less frustrating to read. She gets better by the end but it doesn't erase the first half of the book.
-infodumps. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a history textbook. Characters would record history of the city and while it was interesting, I was left wondering what the importance of it was.
-development. Character development didn't come until exactly 65% percent of the book.
-lack of chemistry. The protagonists spend so time apart for more than first half of the book. Their chemistry felt rushed and sudden.
This book was different than I thought it would be. It was more tame. I thought it would have more action and less dialogue.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Self harm
arkenst0ne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Blood
nullandvoidlibrary'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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
abibliofile's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Police brutality, Slavery, and Trafficking