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siannn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic friendship, War, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping
jhaneveauguste's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Slavery, Torture, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Gore, Classism, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Murder
rhi_'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
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Suicide, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, War, Classism, Grief, Death, and Hate crime
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Physical abuse
Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
olivinebranch'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
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, War, Racial slurs, and Gun violence
Minor: Religious bigotry, Car accident, Alcohol, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Blood, and Slavery
briochebun'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
4.5
Graphic: War, Death, Suicide, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Slavery, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Sexism, Torture, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Gore, Grief, Child death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Vomit, Confinement, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual harassment
chaoticnostalgia'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
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Racial slurs, Drug use, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, War, and Grief
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
elizmoe'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
3.5
to that bookstagrammer, whose main gripe with the novel was how all the white characters were flat cartoon villains, just want to say: Abel Goodfellow and Mrs. Piper are RIGHT THERE. not to mention professor craft! pls !!
regarding Letty, (spoiler) yeah she does some really fucked up shit! and up until betraying everyone, the book gives her a lot of grace in terms of portraying her as a complex human who loves her friends and experiences heartbreak and grief ////and also was indoctrinated with white supremacy from birth and therefore will never be able to see her nonwhite friends as fully human in their own right. she even got her own interlude from her POV, where she gets to defend her choices for an entire chapter. the book then goes on to gives her more grace AFTER her betrayal, during Victoire and Robin’s last conversation about her — the line “loving her was like an exercise in hope” continues to haunt me. Victoire wanted so desperately for Letty to see her and respect her Blackness and Haitianness as part of her humanity, and the tragedy of Letty as a character is she never does. she compartmentalizes her friends’ racial/national identities as _separate_from the people she thinks she loves. and then she puts white supremacist colonialist empire before their lives when shit gets real, a well-documented tendency of white women throughout history. tldr; if you think the white villains in this book are all one dimensional or unrealistic, i genuinely don’t think you read this book!
other thoughts: the portrayal of a friend group united by shared academic stress and unhinged desire to succeed? while staying up all night every day eating garbage and losing their minds together? was maybe one of the most viscerally realistic college friend groups i’ve ever read
other !!! things
-the exploration of language was super interesting. it is not a subject i’m well-versed in and i appreciated how it was more than just a magic system, but an actor in the story in its own right
-i liked the footnotes! sue me!!
-i generally really liked the prose
-the audiobook narrators were absolute fire. especially chris lew kum hoi with the bajillions of accents they had to do
-robin? bisexual. definitely in love with rami (probably also had crushes on both victoire and letty at different points) and while i absolutely wanted them to actually get together, i understand why they did not and i respect the choice! even though rf kuang you’re absolutely sick for that face touch the first day they met,
i agree the magic system was maybe a bit underdeveloped but while reading it never really bothered me, however i understand it as a gripe from people who read or write more complex fantasy with complicated and thought-through magic systems.
one more con: i get the complaints about how the existence of silver doesn’t change the 1830s world as we know it, just adds extra flair to the things that actually happened. it would have been interesting to see a more alternate history where this source of power affects the world more comprehensively, but i also kind get why kuang didn’t go that route and instead chose to just use silver/language magic to explore historical british colonialism as we know it.
Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Addiction and Deportation
dwjnv'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Classism, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, War, and Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Vomit
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
tahsintries's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Torture, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime
Minor: Infidelity
lauramparis's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Gun violence, and Sexism
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racial slurs, War, and Blood