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joshuahc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, and Rape
Moderate: Blood, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
An iffy holocaust metaphorlittletiramisu's review against another edition
- 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: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Blood, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Rape, and Mental illness
dinacatharina's review against another edition
- 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: Sexism, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
imaginary_space's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
What I liked:
- The world building - European inspired, plus a fantasy story set (mainly) in a big city, that's a nice diversion from the majority of books in the genre. If you know any more books, don't hesitate to point me in their direction!
- Also, I liked the Grisha magic.
- I like stories about ragtag bands/found families doing things (okay, crime) together.
- It was so well written that I found the plot interesting and wanted to know not so much what would happen next, but how it would happen.
- I started to appreciate Inej and Kaz once I stopped thinking about their age and just embraced how utterly, unapologetically edgy they are. Teenage me would have probably loved them.
- Jesper is quite the cinnamon roll, and I enjoyed him as a character. He was the most believable and most interesting (and layered) of the bunch.
- There was some entertaining dialogue.
What was meh:
- Even though interestingly written, the plot didn't hold any major surprises.
- Nina and Matthias were annoying, even more so because there wasn't ever any real doubt about the outcome. Also, very tropey romance story.
- Yes, growing up in a slum ages people beyond their years. Sure, I get that. But at times it was just too unbelievable, especially with the way they talked sometimes.
- Even more unbelievable that Kaz managed to have this badass mysterious reputation for being a criminal genius when apparently every other major player in that city was an adult. I would have gotten it if the gang members in the slums were all roughly about the same age. But like this it makes very little sense.
- Towards the end, I was pretty annoyed by the twentieth "... BUT they had seen it coming!" surprise. Especially since there was very few foreshadowing.
- There was some pretentious edgy dialogue. It's a fine line.
Overall, I wasn't too emotionally engaged, but I did enjoy it enough to probably read the second book in the series.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture
amberpoelma's review against another edition
- 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: Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
alexandrabelze's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Trafficking, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Cursing, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol
lindasoderlundd's review against another edition
- 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: Rape, Animal death, Death, and Trafficking
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, and Medical content
fierymoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death, and Drug use
Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, and Racism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
zoecrepp's review against another edition
- 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: Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Vomit
ewwniamh's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking