Scan barcode
jo_brekker'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: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Police brutality and Fire/Fire injury
bookishfaye'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: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
criticalbooks'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
ramreadsagain'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
eralbesu'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
RF Kuang is so impressive as a writer. It’s inspiring and challenged me to go deeper with my own writing.
I really enjoyed this novel.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
onestephatatime'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
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism and War
ncoletti'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: War
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Much like Rin, Robin is a complete non-entity as a character, and just absorbs the opinion of whoever the last character he talked to was. The book is very long but so much is glossed over - each friend has like one character trait and we barely see them interact so none of the emotional beats hit like they're supposed to. The writing is self consciously mimicking a "classic" style but characters often speak in a strangely modern vernacular (saying, "same," to agree with someone, a character's disparaging remark about "brain cells", the character who directly quotes the Caleb Gallo "sometimes things that are expensive are worse" sketch) and most of the language around race by characters we are supposed to like came straight out of 2020.
The book makes a huge deal about pointing out racism like you might miss it in a way that felt very YA to me (the footnotes that are essentially just "that's racist" in the smuggest tone imaginable made me want to scream) but the POV characters say unexamined misogynist stuff all the time and a major plot revolves around a woman consumed by romantic jealousy in a way that made me really uncomfortable. You can tell when the author doesn't like a character and those characters are excruciating to read. There's this absurd sort of Shakesville era privilege checklist thing going on over who is allowed to be sympathetic and/or correct that is so simplistic it's embarrassing. (Eg. Ramy is an Indian Muslim so he is almost always correct when arguing with Robin, who is a white-passing Christian. You can predict the outcome of almost every conflict in the book like this, like rock paper scissors)
The magic system was cool in theory but the world was somehow almost exactly the same except that the machinery of empire is clustered together in a really small space so characters can claim a victory that somehow feels super rushed even though it was foreshadowed 500 pages before.
The lectures on language were really interesting though.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Slavery, Islamophobia, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
jackie_recommends'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, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cameronreads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Alcohol