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ehmannky's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
I think you are either going to love this book or hate it. If it's not clear by my rating, I loved it. I love a book that deals with the mortifying ordeal of being known and the pain and value of loving and being loved. It reminded me a lot of Erin Morgenstern's "The Starless Sea" in that we've got immortals playing games mortals can barely comprehend with some very poetic language. I loved the cast of characters, I love the multitude of plots that interweave together, and I just loved the subtle humor throughout it.
Also, regarding those confused at the big game they play, it's not that complicated.The goal of the game is to get your opponent to buckle under the weight of their regrets without letting them do the same to you, which is why everyone keeps saying it's a game for cheats and liars. You can pull a draw by either revealing both of each other's weaknesses but not bending, or you can both just sort of be so good at lying that no one can gain access. It's why Fox is able to win, because he can see that the actions of his past, even things he knows were wrong or that could have gone differently, are part of him and he doesn't fundamentally wallow in the regret.
Also, regarding those confused at the big game they play, it's not that complicated.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Death, Murder, and Blood
kds247's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It had me laughing and crying every 5 seconds, truly an emotional rollercoaster. My life is better after reading this book. Olivie Blake is truly a master of prose
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
thaliareads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
This was such a unique concept. I think I’ll enjoy a reread of the physical book. I typically listen to audiobooks while I work on other things and that was probably my problem here. I thought the book was really interesting but I think I missed a lot of the early transitions and got confused. Once I was able to place characters and really follow the plot, it was incredibly enjoyable. I’ll absolutely re-read at some point because i know I missed a lot that will make this book even better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping and Violence
I might have missed some content warnings since I feel like I missed some content, so please look up if you are concerned.aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Classism
Minor: War
leedolee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
If I could give this book a 10/10, I would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Abandonment, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content
azrah786's review against another edition
4.25
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, murder, death, abandonment, addiction, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, kidnapping /confinement, infidelity
--
In terms of overall vibes I think this may be my favourite Olivie Blake book to date.
There is just something about supernatural and immortal creature being thrown into the modern day world that I enjoy a lot and there were some great characters in this book and their dynamics with one another were so fun!! I’m not alone in seeing the Good Omens vibes here and I was hooked all the way through, speeding through the book in the space of a weekend.
Down to the bare bones the book is about a bunch of characters who are thrown together to rescue Death but there are also a lot of moving pieces behind the mystery at the heart of the story.
Blake’s storytelling made the world (though it is pretty much just an AU of our world) feel so lived in with these creatures and beings just going about their lives. The writing just makes you feel so deeply for them and their conundrums particularly when it came to relationships, I was very much invested with all of the pairings in this one.
The only real issue that I had were how sometimes the writing style switched up, changing from a more regular third person account to script like dialogue without any warning. I think it disrupted the flow of the story for me and threw me off a little at times especially when these script-esque segments dragged on for a bit too long..
However, I really enjoyed watching the individual arcs of the characters unfold and they all came together in such a satisfying way. All in all a very entertaining read.
Final Rating - 4.25/5 Stars
CW: violence, blood, murder, death, abandonment, addiction, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, kidnapping /confinement, infidelity
--
In terms of overall vibes I think this may be my favourite Olivie Blake book to date.
There is just something about supernatural and immortal creature being thrown into the modern day world that I enjoy a lot and there were some great characters in this book and their dynamics with one another were so fun!! I’m not alone in seeing the Good Omens vibes here and I was hooked all the way through, speeding through the book in the space of a weekend.
Down to the bare bones the book is about a bunch of characters who are thrown together to rescue Death but there are also a lot of moving pieces behind the mystery at the heart of the story.
Blake’s storytelling made the world (though it is pretty much just an AU of our world) feel so lived in with these creatures and beings just going about their lives. The writing just makes you feel so deeply for them and their conundrums particularly when it came to relationships, I was very much invested with all of the pairings in this one.
The only real issue that I had were how sometimes the writing style switched up, changing from a more regular third person account to script like dialogue without any warning. I think it disrupted the flow of the story for me and threw me off a little at times especially when these script-esque segments dragged on for a bit too long..
However, I really enjoyed watching the individual arcs of the characters unfold and they all came together in such a satisfying way. All in all a very entertaining read.
Final Rating - 4.25/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity
dianaschmidty's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I spent the entire book seesawing between feeling invested and confused. I must have gone back 30 seconds on the audiobook a couple hundred times, because I couldn’t have grasped what was going on without doing that.
Olivie Blake is a great writer, no doubt, but I wish this book had been written a little differently.
At the beginning of the book, we’re dropped into a story that seems like it’ll be narrated by death, which is was for a bit, but it seemed like by halfway through the book, Olivie forgot that Death was even involved. Yeah, I get that he was a little busy during that part of the book, but isn’t he supposed to be basically omniscient?
I loved the romances in the book, but at times, it felt like too many things were happening at once. Like give me two epic love stories or three separately distinguished love stories. Having three love stories all play out at the exact same time (with two of them basically forgotten for like 150 pages until they needed to be tied up in a nice bow at the end) felt like too much to really let me get to know the characters. By the end of the book, I knew Violet, Fox, and Brant, all of which I liked, but I think with as big of a cast of characters as this book had, I needed to know more.
Also, why do we never get to know how what happens to Tom at the end happens? It’s never explained…
I really liked the narrator. He did a great job with all of the different accents. My only issue with the audiobook was that some parts weren’t very conducive to this format. Like whenever the book jumped from past to present or vise versa with little warning, it was jarring.
Overall, I really liked the book, I just think it was an overly complex world at times.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Olivie Blake for providing me access to this book.
Olivie Blake is a great writer, no doubt, but I wish this book had been written a little differently.
At the beginning of the book, we’re dropped into a story that seems like it’ll be narrated by death, which is was for a bit, but it seemed like by halfway through the book, Olivie forgot that Death was even involved. Yeah, I get that he was a little busy during that part of the book, but isn’t he supposed to be basically omniscient?
I loved the romances in the book, but at times, it felt like too many things were happening at once. Like give me two epic love stories or three separately distinguished love stories. Having three love stories all play out at the exact same time (with two of them basically forgotten for like 150 pages until they needed to be tied up in a nice bow at the end) felt like too much to really let me get to know the characters. By the end of the book, I knew Violet, Fox, and Brant, all of which I liked, but I think with as big of a cast of characters as this book had, I needed to know more.
Also, why do we never get to know how what happens to Tom at the end happens? It’s never explained…
I really liked the narrator. He did a great job with all of the different accents. My only issue with the audiobook was that some parts weren’t very conducive to this format. Like whenever the book jumped from past to present or vise versa with little warning, it was jarring.
Overall, I really liked the book, I just think it was an overly complex world at times.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Olivie Blake for providing me access to this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
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