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rockcommander's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Moderate: War
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Grief, and Gore
Minor: Sexual content
ivereads'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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Self harm, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism and War
salemander's review
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Grief, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
ellyrium'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? No
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Self harm, Body horror, and Alcohol
anxietee9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Self harm, War, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Religious bigotry
bookishmillennial'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
This sequel acts as a character and worldbuilding exploration, and it works really well (at least for me). We get more of Naranpa, Xiala, and Serapio’s journeys in grappling with their new realities, which forces them all to rediscover themselves, their histories, and their purposes. Okoa also takes a bit more center stage in this book than in Black Sun in wanting the best for his people (Carrion Crow), which was fine but my favorites really are Xiala and Serapio.
I thoroughly enjoyed the big reveal in Xiala’s storyline, and am so satisfied with how that unraveled. It seems as if RR provides commentary on how these characters perceive themselves, and then flips that on its head by building up to a shocking twist that makes Xiala question her memories and the story she’s been harboring and wallowing in about herself. There’s nothing more universal than an existential reckoning that challenges everything you thought you knew about yourself! Been there✅
By the way, I love the fantasy aspects in this world! I am enamored with it and Xiala’s magic in particular is just so wild — every time she uses it, I’m like “yeah I support women’s wrongs, so WHAT?” Xiala’s wistful ending line (feeling longing towards a certain someone) had me in the feels though lol.
RR also provides mirrors for the characters to self-examine even further, such as the stark differences between what Naranpa and Serapio believe regarding where their duties and goals lie as avatars of gods. I appreciated their final solemn but resigned interaction in this book too, and I am quite curious to see where the final book takes them. I love an agree-to-disagree moment, and yet I don’t see it lasting.
I’m not going to spoil anything but I will say that I thoroughly appreciate a fraught mother-daughter dynamic, and the fact that this fantasy world is full of magic and gods, yet some of our characters are still haunted by their parents? That is *so real* — nothing articulate to say about this other than you cannot rid people of mommy or daddy issues regardless of what world you’re in😂
I adored the little excerpts in the beginning of each chapter — some are cornier than others, like “even a shark must sleep,” but I still fuck with it because *I* am a corny mf. Mother waters! hehehehe
Can someone explain to me what is going on with Iktan? Is xe conspiring? Someone we can trust? I have no idea and it’s going to keep me up at night lol.
Overall, this was a really fascinating character study and sets us up nicely for the final book, which I can’t wait for!
cw: Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Murder
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Grief, and Violence
missmali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Gore, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Death
guessgreenleaf'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Gore
matcha_pages'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
3.0
The narrators in the audio book were teriffic!
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Torture