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kelseeraine's review against another edition
1.5
Actually a really fun and enjoyable read. Unfortunately, it's rated so low because there is one part of the book where the FMC almost gets raped. While I understand that this can be used as a plot point, it automatically lowered my opinion of this book for 3 reasons:
1. It was entirely unnecessary! The author added in the near sexual assault of our main character for apparently absolutely no apparent reason! It did not do a single thing to advance the plot or character motivations. Some people might argue that it serves to illustrate how horrible that character is and how horrible the world would be if he was allowed to win. However, I would argue that the violence and disregard for human life he showed was MORE than enough. Adding in the sexual assault at that point was just pointless.
2. More egregious than it not having anything to add to the plot, it added absolutely nothing to the character. If you, as an author, feel the need to add the sexual assault of women into your book (which, really, hasnt that been done enough?) you must make it MEAN something. This book did not do that at all. In fact, after such a dramatically traumatizing incident, the character appears to be mostly fine. The attempted assault is only brought up twice after it happens (once immediately after for like 2 chapters and once when she has to face him again) and the character is not affected by it the rest of the time. It doesn't effect the way she interacts with others, the world, or herself. Though probably not the author's intention, this does perpetuate the narrative that women should be able to just "get over" an assault like that or at the very least not let it effect their life. It very much feels like the author was trivializing the seriousness of the situation and thus trivializing the experiences of every person who has ever gone through it.
3. Finally, there were absolutely no trigger warnings for such a sensitive topic. Though it may be an unfair double standard, I specifically pretty much only read female authors because this kind of on-page violence is usually avoided or handled with infinitely more care. This makes my disappointment in this book and this author all the more poignant, because as a woman, I feel she either should have done the topic more justice or decided against brutalizing her characters in that way. I expect male authors to (wrongly) not know the significance of such trauma and to use it as mere "shock value" for the readers, but I do expect a female author to know better.
All in all, I guess most of my feelings can be summed up by the fact that I think the sexual assault of women in media is a tired trope that needs to die. Every woman knows how scary that would be and is afraid of it constantly, there should be no reason we are forced to endure it in media as well as in real life. I find that in most cases, like this one, it adds very little to the plot or characters and does much more to remind the readers that, even in fantasy worlds, women are not safe from such atrocities. (And that's not even getting into the fact that male characters almost never deal with the same violence, despite the claim that sexual violence makes the plot have higher stakes.)
Overall, without what was mentioned above, I would have rated it 4 stars. I actually quite enjoyed the plot, characters, and the narrative. I just CANNOT, in good conscious, give a positive rating to a book that would do that. I rarely let one thing ruin an entire book, however, this was a very necessary exception.
1. It was entirely unnecessary! The author added in the near sexual assault of our main character for apparently absolutely no apparent reason! It did not do a single thing to advance the plot or character motivations. Some people might argue that it serves to illustrate how horrible that character is and how horrible the world would be if he was allowed to win. However, I would argue that the violence and disregard for human life he showed was MORE than enough. Adding in the sexual assault at that point was just pointless.
2. More egregious than it not having anything to add to the plot, it added absolutely nothing to the character. If you, as an author, feel the need to add the sexual assault of women into your book (which, really, hasnt that been done enough?) you must make it MEAN something. This book did not do that at all. In fact, after such a dramatically traumatizing incident, the character appears to be mostly fine. The attempted assault is only brought up twice after it happens (once immediately after for like 2 chapters and once when she has to face him again) and the character is not affected by it the rest of the time. It doesn't effect the way she interacts with others, the world, or herself. Though probably not the author's intention, this does perpetuate the narrative that women should be able to just "get over" an assault like that or at the very least not let it effect their life. It very much feels like the author was trivializing the seriousness of the situation and thus trivializing the experiences of every person who has ever gone through it.
3. Finally, there were absolutely no trigger warnings for such a sensitive topic. Though it may be an unfair double standard, I specifically pretty much only read female authors because this kind of on-page violence is usually avoided or handled with infinitely more care. This makes my disappointment in this book and this author all the more poignant, because as a woman, I feel she either should have done the topic more justice or decided against brutalizing her characters in that way. I expect male authors to (wrongly) not know the significance of such trauma and to use it as mere "shock value" for the readers, but I do expect a female author to know better.
All in all, I guess most of my feelings can be summed up by the fact that I think the sexual assault of women in media is a tired trope that needs to die. Every woman knows how scary that would be and is afraid of it constantly, there should be no reason we are forced to endure it in media as well as in real life. I find that in most cases, like this one, it adds very little to the plot or characters and does much more to remind the readers that, even in fantasy worlds, women are not safe from such atrocities. (And that's not even getting into the fact that male characters almost never deal with the same violence, despite the claim that sexual violence makes the plot have higher stakes.)
Overall, without what was mentioned above, I would have rated it 4 stars. I actually quite enjoyed the plot, characters, and the narrative. I just CANNOT, in good conscious, give a positive rating to a book that would do that. I rarely let one thing ruin an entire book, however, this was a very necessary exception.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
mj1588's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kjanet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I will admit the first book had my attention all the way through with no stops. This one kind of lost me in some places. I feel like the buildup of beating these major powerful villains ended too easily (perhaps not for them, as they were fighting) but something about both major fights seemed anticlimactic. Also, the ending did wrap up MOST of the storylines, but left some open, which, was not horrendous. For some reason, the bigger threat at the end of the book reminded me a tiny bit of the ending of Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor.
Also, the main character’s personality also got kind of annoying. I know she is strong and powerful and whatnot, but her attitude did begin to grate on my nerves sometimes.
Also, the main character’s personality also got kind of annoying. I know she is strong and powerful and whatnot, but her attitude did begin to grate on my nerves sometimes.
Regardless, still a great Duology (and the author leaves it open to perhaps a companion/sequel duology that takes place some time later).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Genocide
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
nozycozy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
maddxtina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
evemason's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gaden35's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
I strongly detest unnecessary romances. It added nothing to the plot in my opinion and actually detracted from it.
I also believe the dialogue and plot felt less polished and a little hokey compared to the first book. And the pacing sometimes felt odd - as though she didn’t want to explain some things. Which is fine. It was still a fun read and hard to put down.
I also believe the dialogue and plot felt less polished and a little hokey compared to the first book. And the pacing sometimes felt odd - as though she didn’t want to explain some things. Which is fine. It was still a fun read and hard to put down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and War
maresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
fleur____'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism