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winterstar's review
- 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
Enjoyed: interesting world, intriguing plot, great tone and flavor, characters genuinely not afraid to get dark and weird and complicated.
Didn't vibe with: meandering middle, a few of the characters I found either bland or insufferable, some clunky storytelling and truly confusing moments, prose that was way more tell than show.
Overall I was driven more by curiosity about what the gods were up to, and interest in the different realms, than in the characters. It's hard to say where exactly this goes wrong, because I connected with the characters at first, but as the book went on and I spent more time with each one, they all started to seem a little flat. Ironically, so much of what the characters are thinking and feeling is hammered in. There were so many scenes I wish the writing would have just let speak for themselves, rather than hamfistedly explaining their significance; on the other hand, there were a few crucial scenes that tried to convey everything through implication, and could have used more clarity. I really liked a few individual lines and paragraphs of the writing, which vacillates between truly evocative and shockingly clumsy.
I think the book is worth reading if a dark, complex world and plot as well as a few interesting characters are enough to keep you interested. I'll be picking up the sequel to see if it's an improvement, since I really enjoyed the last chunk of the book and the cliffhanger left me wanting to know more.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Blood, Self harm, and Emotional abuse
vjlp22_reader's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Cannibalism, and Death
maregred's review
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury
iforgotilivedhere's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death, Abandonment, Body horror, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
msradiosilence'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
Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/the-city-of-dusk.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Cursing, Racism, Police brutality, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
rorikae'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
4.5
The story follows the heirs of four houses who each have their own powers and complicated relationships with one another. Taesia and her brother are dealing with discoveries and possible consequences. Angelica is dealing with learning the proper way to call forth her powers. Nik is hefting his family's expectations and a new responsibility. Risha is struggling to keep the others from coming to blows. With the tenuous relationships between their city and the gods in disarray and the question of succession causing friction between the houses, each of the heirs seek ways to save their city and keep their house afloat.
This story has a slow start but I think that really benefited the characters. Sim gives each character plenty of time within the story so that I felt I had a good grasp on each of the characters and their relationships before the full meat of the plot began to unfurl. The characters and relationships are the heart of this story and so it works really well to cement them strongly at the beginning. For readers looking for more excitement and plot, it definitely appears but only after we have a good understanding of the characters. By weaving in the worldbuilding with the characters, which is aided by them each being heir to different houses and having their own powers, we get to understand the world in a way that felt natural and not forced. There is a solid base layer of understanding that Sim continues to build on throughout the story, especially as characters begin to uncover previously unknown pieces of their world.
A lot is set up in this first book and it's clear that the story is headed for even more intense places (which is saying a lot as this book delves into many different topics). I'm excited to see where Sim takes the characters next and to learn even more about the world.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
anxiousnachos's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
But the first 150-200 pages are so dense. The worldbuilding is so heavy, in that “I need to explicitly and directly tell the reader all these things about the world” way. It’s such a complex and dense set up, and thus the pacing is very slow and I agree with other reviewers that this could easily have been cut 100 pages and the pacing would have flowed a lot better.
In saying that, I say push the fuck through because the pay off is excellent, the characters and their relationships are wonderful and I support bisexual shadow dagger-wielding monster girls who want to tear the world apart and the boys they fancy.
Content warnings: blood and gore, murder, dead bodies, cannibalism, self-harm, burns/burn injury, animal cruelty and torture, animal death, possession, sex, sex work, violence
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Violence, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Gore, Blood, Animal death, and Grief
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
_teoeo'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? Yes
3.75
Pros:
- I loved the world building
- A lot of LGBTQ* and POC characters
- Taesia!!!!
- Liked the plottwists!!!
- The story was really interesting and I will totally read the second book
- It took me reeeeaaaaallyyy long to read the book
- A lot of text on the pages, was a pain in my ass to read that
didn't liked the part where Angelica was at a brothel, thought that is problematic because it was portrayed as kind of normalised and there wasn't a word about the suffering that can be involved with prostitution - The last 100 pages there was a lot going on, that overwhelmed me a bit
Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide attempt
allisonwonderlandreads'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What I enjoyed most about this book were the twists and turns, the queer cast, and the reflections on power and privilege. While the relationships were a bit surface level and trope-y for my tastes (especially the romantic plots were predictable and rushed), the political power games were fascinating and kept many surprises until the very end. In terms of queer representation, there are both sapphic and mlm romances brewing among the main cast at the end of this first installment, and an important side character is a trans girl. There is also an established sapphic couple as one of the main character's mom and stepmom. It seems to be a queer-norm society. I appreciated how the characters struggle throughout the book to come to terms with their own power in a magical and political sense. They have to consider their duty, the future of their world, and what role they should play in it. They also have to consider what greater powers are meddling in their lives and those of everyone, powers that perhaps shouldn't be revered once viewed in a more honest light.
Beyond relationships that took a back seat to plot, the main deterrent keeping me from being fully immersed in this story was the drawn-out pacing. I lost motivation at several points throughout because I felt sluggish moving through the plot. I think it's always a risk having a book this long, and it takes a special connection between reader and book to keep interest up throughout. That didn't happen for me here, but I still found a lot to admire and enjoy.
Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Gore, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Blood, Classism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Animal death, and Confinement
kilic'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence