Scan barcode
saracat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It is no surprise to me that I loved and adored this book. So far everything I've read by Schwab I have adored. Sometimes when I read books that authors wrote much earlier in their career, I can sense that they are still coming into their own. But in this book, she already feels to have an understanding of her craft and I would not have guessed this was written so early in her career without the forward saying so.
As with some of the other books I have read by her, I adore, love, and root for the main characters with everything in me and feel intense dislike and disgust at those who seem to give no effort to hear and understand what is being said to them.
This audiobook version includes at the end the story of Cole and it was painful to hear the full extent of what led to his coming to Near.
As with some of the other books I have read by her, I adore, love, and root for the main characters with everything in me and feel intense dislike and disgust at those who seem to give no effort to hear and understand what is being said to them.
This audiobook version includes at the end the story of Cole and it was painful to hear the full extent of what led to his coming to Near.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Blood, Death of parent, Self harm, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
In this book, the 'racism' is directed towards witches.ronjaorsomething's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
_haggis_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Death
CW: Self harm only applies to the short story at the end of the book.gssll_lpz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, and Self harm
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
alliallialli's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Sexism
tkatt20's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this book. Its a really quick read if you're looking for something with a relatively simple magic system and high tension. I thought the pacing was wonderful for it being a standalone (accompanied by a short story) partially because it had such an interesting writing style and I felt like I could really connect emotionally to the characters which kept me reading. It also didn't feel like too much of an info dump which I run into sometimes with standalones and all the characters had depth and personality outside of the main character. My only complaint was the romance seemed to be very insta love which I'm not a huge fan of but considering that isn't the main plot, this book was great. Gave me major salem witch trial vibes too which I loved!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
Minor: Blood and Animal death
theprocrastinatingbookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Self harm
cannolini's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm
the short story at the end of the book (the ash-born boy) does depict a detailed description of forced self harmtheespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I have never once read a book by Schwab and walked away feeling like I was disappointed... until now. This breaks my heart to write because I truly wanted to love this book, but I just didn't.
The story itself held my interest and I finished it very quickly. The plot was unique and had a good pace to it. However, as it went on, it got really depressing, and then it got more depressing, and then it was creepy, and then it had what felt like a really open ending and THEN... to top it all off... it actually ended with a short story that was so morbid and full of uncomfortable themes that I almost quit listening to the audiobook right then and there. I couldn't believe what a turn it had taken and it was incredibly unpleasant.
That's what truly made me dislike this book the most. If it hadn't had that ending, and maybe she had written a sequel instead to kind of wrap things up a bit better, maybe I would've enjoyed it, but instead, I felt hollow inside.
Needless to say, this is not one I'll be picking up again and I'm really glad this wasn't my first taste of her writing because I'm not sure I ever would've continued reading her books past this one (GASP).
The story itself held my interest and I finished it very quickly. The plot was unique and had a good pace to it. However, as it went on, it got really depressing, and then it got more depressing, and then it was creepy, and then it had what felt like a really open ending and THEN... to top it all off... it actually ended with a short story that was so morbid and full of uncomfortable themes that I almost quit listening to the audiobook right then and there. I couldn't believe what a turn it had taken and it was incredibly unpleasant.
That's what truly made me dislike this book the most. If it hadn't had that ending, and maybe she had written a sequel instead to kind of wrap things up a bit better, maybe I would've enjoyed it, but instead, I felt hollow inside.
Needless to say, this is not one I'll be picking up again and I'm really glad this wasn't my first taste of her writing because I'm not sure I ever would've continued reading her books past this one (GASP).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Self harm
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Blood and Fire/Fire injury
eve_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The strongest aspects of this book were its lyrical writing style and gloomy atmosphere. I got major Grimm’s Fairytale vibes; this is definitely a good fall-time read!
⁕ There are some big YA tropes in here: a dark and mysterious love interest, the death of parent, and a rebellious main character. All of them were well-written!
⁕ I didn’t fall in love the characters as I have with Schwab’s other books. That’s not to say they aren’t believable, I just didn’t get as invested.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
⁕ The strongest aspects of this book were its lyrical writing style and gloomy atmosphere. I got major Grimm’s Fairytale vibes; this is definitely a good fall-time read!
⁕ There are some big YA tropes in here: a dark and mysterious love interest, the death of parent, and a rebellious main character. All of them were well-written!
⁕ I didn’t fall in love the characters as I have with Schwab’s other books. That’s not to say they aren’t believable, I just didn’t get as invested.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, and Self harm