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datgirllani'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Addiction, Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, Torture, Animal death, Slavery, Death of parent, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Excrement, and Genocide
gillian_aftanas'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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Gun violence, Addiction, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Gore, Trafficking, Slavery, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Excrement, Death of parent, Animal death, and War
adamparrishlover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Gore, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Religious bigotry and Excrement
shelvesofivy'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Murder, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Child death, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual assault
Minor: Excrement, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
near drowning,infjkiki'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Animal death, Gun violence, Slavery, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Torture, Gore, Trafficking, Blood, and Genocide
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Excrement, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
storykath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child death, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Addiction
Moderate: Vomit, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, War, and Gore
Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, and Excrement
illgiveyouahint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I liked the setting and the story so much more than the shadow and bone series, however reading the series back-to-back I'm starting to be tired of this world and kinda cannot wait to go back to some other worlds and stories. Luckily I only have one more book ahead of me.
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Excrement, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery
dhwani'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
*screaming intensifies*
*pause*
*more screaming*
(no but fr i cannot write a review to this masterpiece wtf am i supposed to write)
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Murder, Slavery, and Sexual assault
li_reading'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
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Confinement, Death, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Grief, and Vomit
Minor: Religious bigotry, Excrement, Slavery, and Torture
margueritestjust'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? No
5.0
I love the world and setting - some of my favorite stories have characters that are so much a part of their world that they can't be taken out of that world and put somewhere else and still be the same. The world and the characters very much play off of each other - each character is a product of their environment. Though Kaz is technically not a "bastard of the Barrel", he may as well be, because that is the world that shaped him, and it comes through in the way that he dresses, the way that he speaks, the way that he's created a myth around himself. Each of the main crew is similarly part of the setting and their own character at the same time.
One of the things that Bardugo does really well is to reveal information in portions and only when it's necessary. We learn of these characters' pasts as their relationships, fears, and goals are talked about in the present, and it's the restraint of a writer who knows to only give the necessary information at the necessary time. Obstensibly, this book is about a heist, but the book is really about the characters - the plot drives the character work at the end of the day. That being said, Bardugo was still delivering flashback exposition during the actual heist, and perhaps it was just me being impatient but I felt that it was information that could have been truly covered earlier - and then left the heist completely running on its own time. Everything was going poorly enough for our main characters that I needed to know about them in the present, not them in the past lol.
The book does raise a lot of questions about what is going to happen in the next, and while there are some obvious ones and clear threads that will have to be picked up (
I love all of the main crew dearly except for Matthias. He's still on thin ice. (Unintended pun.) However, Inej my beloved <3
In all seriousness, I had a really hard time getting into the Helnik romance.
All of my reviews turn out to be unreasonably long, so I'll just say this to wrap up. It's a book that I genuinely could not put down. I read most of it within one night, and I found that reading along with atmospheric white noise really added to my experience as well, which is something new that I've discovered and I can't wait to use that for the next book that I read as well. I adored this book, I think it's lovingly crafted from start to finish. Definitely deserves the hype that it gets.
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, and Child death
Minor: Excrement
Lots of death - often by gun or knife, but it does have the death of animals and describes three bodies that have been burned to death. There is some description of an eyeball that gets a bit gory.