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maryellen'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: Vomit, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Death, and Kidnapping
astropova'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn'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
Istvhan was a secondary character in PALADIN'S GRACE, and his mission is related to the murderous and undead-adjacent "smooth men" Stephen encountered briefly there. This serves to wrap up that storyline, possibly completely, but it remains to be seen whether there will be further related incidents in later books. I enjoyed the brief anecdote from Istvhan as to more developments in Stephen and Grace's relationship. There's a new storyline related to Clara and her kidnapped sisters of St. Ursa, as well as the romance between Istvhan and Clara. This isn't the last book in the series, but because it appears that each book with have a different protagonist, it's pretty wide open as to what might be open enough to be picked up later. The one thing I can say for certain is there are five more paladins of the Saint of Steel who can be protagonists, and that the White Rat will continue to be relevant. Beyond that, these books are gradually filling in a whole world, and it's open enough that it doesn't feel like anything in particular was left for later, other than the march of time and that people will continue to need help that can be given by broken paladins of a dead god with their shiny swords.
Istvhan feels like he did in the first book, albeit having been filtered through Grace and Stephen's perceptions of him. Clara is an entirely new protagonist. Istvhan and Clara both have secrets they're keeping, and good reasons to be concerned that the other person might not want to stick around once they know. The romance is a slow burn, as even after they start to be physically intimate they don't know if the other person will stay interested once they know more of what's going on.
This would make sense to someone who started here without reading any other books in the world of the White Rat, let alone in The Saint of Steel series particularly, but the loose collection of the White Rat are building a world with each new story, and a few side details will be more impactful for someone who has already read PALADIN'S GRACE, in particular. Sometimes these little details double as updates about characters met elsewhere, other times they just contribute to the reader's growing knowledge of their shared setting. However, the main story and most of the side threads will be understandable and have much of their poignancy for someone who picks this up without knowledge of the other books.
I love the gladiator sequence towards the end. It's a tangle of plans, interruptions, and hoping things go well long enough for them to pull off something just shy of a miracle under terrible conditions.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Suicide, Sexual content, Grief, Blood, Death, Confinement, and Child death
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Vomit, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Slavery
wilybooklover's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Abandonment and Infertility
epsyphus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Edit for reread: I love this world so much.
Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Definitely looking forward to the next book!
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Animal death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
paisleypetty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death
bookbuzzard'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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Kidnapping, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Gore, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Abandonment, Colonisation, Antisemitism, and Vomit
Undeath Antisemitism explanation -affabletoaster'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: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol
bookwyrmknits's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty
additional cw: arson