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kalmia31's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical trauma, Vomit, and Body horror
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Child death, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cannibalism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
sondered'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Terminal illness and Toxic relationship
snipinfool's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really, really wanted to love this book. It was an intriguing story. Multiple teams vying for the chance to win accolades is usually a winner for me. While the story centered around Gideon and Harrow, having multiple house teams with both a lead and cavalier made it difficult for me to remember who each person was and what house they were from. I wish the author had written more interactions between the competitors so readers could learn more about their individual characteristics and what role they played. I read the e-book version and there was a "Cohort Intelligence File" at the end which told more about each person in the competition. I would have loved that information at the beginning. I didn't know it was a more detailed cast of characters info until after I finished the story. The pacing of the book was way off for me. The difference between the first half of the book and the second was like night and day. The first half was so slow. I considered DNFing it, but I was reading it for my book group and wanted to give it a chance. The second half was wonderful. It was much more fast paced and I loved every bit of it. Overall, it was an interesting book and I am glad I continued reading it.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, and Terminal illness
hzamrzla's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cancer, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Gore
Minor: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
arobear'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
5.0
Worldbuilding and character development are excellent; the setting feels mysterious throughout and (for better or worse) I love the characters. They're my shitty little children now!
Be ready for strong emotions though, fair warning.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement
quirkykayleetam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a locked room necromantic thriller told from the point of view of a snarky narrator who never wanted to be in this plot (or genre) in the first place. But once there, she cannot help but care about the people around her.
My main issue with this book was pacing. The beginning is a sightly too-long introduction to the world which, while I'm sure it will be important later in the series, plays much less of a part in this book than the interactions between characters. Then the mystery begins with wonderful challenges and character moments...until the book becomes so concerned with narrative twists and surprises that it picks up pace to culminate in a fight scene that takes up literally a 4th of the book.
I found the characters, their growth, and their dynamics incredible. And yes, that includes the side characters. I wish we were given more time to focus on that and their REACTIONS to the mystery's twists than the loose worldbuilding that has little payout here. I will never forget Gideon's character arc, but it felt downplayed in sequel setup.
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Death, Body horror, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: War, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism
possibilityleft'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gore, Child abuse, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Body horror, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical content, Genocide, Death, Cannibalism, Blood, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, and Physical abuse
wickedgrumpy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I went into this book knowing almost nothing beyond the tag line of Lesbian Necromancers in Space and that it was genre-bending for sci-fi and fantasy. That was enough to sell me on reading it, even though I heard mixed things.
Did it deliver on those premises? Mostly. There are characters that identified as women and showed attraction/flirted with others that also identified as women, some of those characters were also necromancers. With regards to being in space, there is very limited space shuttle travel, so I don't know that I would really quantify it that way, though there is ample room for that to change for the future in the series.
This book was indeed a crossover between sci-fi and fantasy in that it involved a technologically advanced civilization (space travel, and such) but with the deep roots of necromancy that almost took it into dark academia territory. The necromancers are all obsessed in learning new theorems/spells and figuring out things in their specializations, and there are also trials they have to pass and mysteries to solve before they can advance.
There's a lot of tension because it is a competition and you don't really begin to understand the stakes until Act II and then the full whammy hits you near the end.
Also, I feel like I have a conspiracy theory based on the epilogue/info peppered throughout the book so click for spoilers, I guess:
Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cancer, Death, Slavery, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Stalking, and War
boglord's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Suicide, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, and Death of parent
Minor: War, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Vomit
huntress'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Chronic illness, War, Terminal illness, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Slavery, Grief, Genocide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cannibalism