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adoto's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.25
I loved the world and lore in this book but I felt like I read a prologue rather than a complete story and had no opportunity to get invested. I wish I liked this enough to seek out the second book.
Moderate: Xenophobia, Death, Gore, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
The book itself is not xenophobic, but there are clear real-world xenophobic parallels that I feel are worth mentioning, especially if you are South Asian or Middle-Eastern (I'm Indian myself). The book's treatment of these characters and these issues is absolutely fine. I had no problems reading it; just putting it out there in case someone might. The blood and gore mentions are very brief, contained within a few sentences, but occur multiple times during the book and are described graphically. Blood/gore invoke physical reactions in me and I was definitely affected by those parts in this book so be warned!wayward_sara's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Beautiful story, I loved the writing and the time jumps. Also finally the ə in the italian language as a way to introduce neutral pronouns! Can't wait to read the other books.
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
lucystolethesky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Adult/minor relationship
sapphic_in_the_stacks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- 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
Twin children of the Protector, Mokoya and Akeha, have always been treated more like pawns than people by their mother. The Protector governs half the world and rules with an iron fist. Mokoya has prophetic powers and is kept under tight watch by her mother, while Akeha has stronger control than most over elemental forces in the Slack. As they grow older, Akeha escapes the capital city, leaving Mokoya behind in the process.
This book was a pleasant, if rushed, reading experience. Yang manages to cram an incredibly well developed story and unique world into a short novella. My one criticism is that, due to it's shorter length, some of the relationships development and emotional ties between the characters suffers. Though it's clear based on the timeline proposed that these characters have developed relationships over decades, we don't see enough of that relationship building and formation to create strong emotional attachments to the characters. This story could have easily doubled in length and still had plenty of material, but I did appreciate the writing and story as it was presented. Definitely looking forward to further installations.
This book was a pleasant, if rushed, reading experience. Yang manages to cram an incredibly well developed story and unique world into a short novella. My one criticism is that, due to it's shorter length, some of the relationships development and emotional ties between the characters suffers. Though it's clear based on the timeline proposed that these characters have developed relationships over decades, we don't see enough of that relationship building and formation to create strong emotional attachments to the characters. This story could have easily doubled in length and still had plenty of material, but I did appreciate the writing and story as it was presented. Definitely looking forward to further installations.
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: War
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