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solenekeleroux's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Confinement
maeverose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Suicide, Confinement, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content
midnightgremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Murder, Death, Blood, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Suicide
Minor: Slavery
jennamcclendon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
I can totally understand how this book won all of the awards that it did. The way this was crafted and the attention to detail and all of the little bits of representation were so amazing, and there was never a time when I found myself wondering why the hype was so high. I totally understood it. This was a PHENOMENAL read.
First, I want to mention the worldbuilding. I read something (it may have been in the acknowledgments of the book) where the author mentions how there are always books based on like old Victorian England and other European eras of history, but there aren’t a lot of things taking place in the Americas, and least of all the pre-Columbian Americas. There is so much rich history and innovation and culture between all of the ancient civilizations, and there were so many little details scattered throughout the book. The clothing was the biggest thing that I liked, especially since I visualize so much when I read, but I also loved all of the touches with the navigation on the boat and the importance of religion and the gods in society. I had never read a book quite like this, but I LOVED it.
In addition to the cultural influences, the general worldbuilding was also amazing. The Sky Made clans were each so unique, and I can safely say that Carrion Crow is my favorite. (Cue the Buzzfeed Unsolved audio: “I’m here for the cult stuff!” LOL). The priesthood was also so vivid, and even though I didn’t like the priests (except for Iktan, tbh), the people’s reliance on the star charts and divination like that is SO COOL to me. I also want to know so much more about Xiala’s Teek culture. I mean, come on. SIRENS? I NEED TO KNOW MORE. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters! I feel like all of the stuff with Serapio and his connection with the crow god and all of the other gods and their followings will be explained more in the second book, and I hope it is because I LOVE learning about the religious groups in books.
Now. I’m going to rant about my favorite character. Serapio. Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I love him SO MUCH. He was BY FAR my favorite. Even from the first chapter with him going through his ritual to become the Odo Sedoh I was hooked on him. That chapter immediately established a connection in me to him because I kept waiting for his point of view to come back. All of the times where we got to hear about his past and his tutors were heartbreaking, except for Powageh who was actually pretty chill. He had such a terrible childhood, but I know that knowing his destiny and what he was meant to do with Odo Sedoh and his crow friends made it slightly better for him and gave him a reason to keep going. And then after he met Xiala, he had another reason: her. From the moment they first *met* they were drawn to each other, and their relationship developing on their journey together was so sweet to read even though it couldn’t have ended well. (Although their little scenes on the boat and in the bathhouse and with the honey… OMG. Anyway.) And I love how he was a strong, powerful, incredible warrior and person and how he was able to work with being blind and even using it to his advantage with the crows and stuff. And he was such an interesting character as well because of his relationship with good/evil and how he perceived himself and his destiny and how it affected other people, Xiala included. Long story short, I am so scared for Serapio now and he needs to be okay because I love him.
Not only was the insane research the author did on pre-Columbian culture extremely evident, but the representation was also SO WELL DONE (in my opinion). There was so much thought put into Serapio’s blindness and how it impacted his character and his abilities and seeing a character like him was so nice. I also admire how Xiala’s sexuality was done. She wasn’t ashamed of it at all, even though she knew others discriminated against her for it (since she was in jail for flirting with a woman in the beginning), but that also didn’t stop her from flirting with Aishe on the ship and making jokes with her crew (before they all betrayed her and tried to kill her and before Serapio murdered them lol). Not only that, but I also really love how gender was presented here. Iktan and Powageh (I think both of them, definitely Powageh) were both non-binary (a third gender in their culture) with xe/xir pronouns (WHICH YOU DON’T SEE MUCH OF IN LITERATURE AND I AM ALWAYS SO GLAD TO SEE NEOPRONOUNS), and Maaka’s wife from the cult was a trans woman! I believe this also ties into the culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations, and I am so glad to see it now. I’m always a sucker for good representation. :)
The only reason that this is only a 4.5- and not a 5-star book is because I didn’t really like Naranpa. As a character, I think her arc is very well done with her losing her position as Sun Priest and all and having to go through those assassination attempts and all of the drama with Abah and Ekhe trying to overthrow her, but I just found her POVs boring. I kept skimming through them because there wasn’t a lot of action (with exceptions, of course), unlike how there was always something happening with Xiala and Serapio. I kept wanting to go back to them and be done with her parts. I’m still impartial on Okoa for now, although after the ending with him finding Serapio after *that* whole thing happened, I think he’ll play a much bigger role in the second book, along with Naranpa as well hopefully after her little ritual too. I have hopes for them, but I don’t think the first book did them justice. :/
Overall, this was a fantastic book. The worldbuilding and representation were so vivid and the characters were so lovable and interesting and have a lot of potential for book two. That cliffhanger at the end was BRUTAL. I’M SO CONCERNED. I will definitely try to read book two when I can find the time, but in the meantime, I’ll just be thinking about Serapio and Xiala and how much I want to see more books with this culture as inspiration. I LOVED it.
I can totally understand how this book won all of the awards that it did. The way this was crafted and the attention to detail and all of the little bits of representation were so amazing, and there was never a time when I found myself wondering why the hype was so high. I totally understood it. This was a PHENOMENAL read.
First, I want to mention the worldbuilding. I read something (it may have been in the acknowledgments of the book) where the author mentions how there are always books based on like old Victorian England and other European eras of history, but there aren’t a lot of things taking place in the Americas, and least of all the pre-Columbian Americas. There is so much rich history and innovation and culture between all of the ancient civilizations, and there were so many little details scattered throughout the book. The clothing was the biggest thing that I liked, especially since I visualize so much when I read, but I also loved all of the touches with the navigation on the boat and the importance of religion and the gods in society. I had never read a book quite like this, but I LOVED it.
In addition to the cultural influences, the general worldbuilding was also amazing. The Sky Made clans were each so unique, and I can safely say that Carrion Crow is my favorite. (Cue the Buzzfeed Unsolved audio: “I’m here for the cult stuff!” LOL). The priesthood was also so vivid, and even though I didn’t like the priests (except for Iktan, tbh), the people’s reliance on the star charts and divination like that is SO COOL to me. I also want to know so much more about Xiala’s Teek culture. I mean, come on. SIRENS? I NEED TO KNOW MORE. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters! I feel like all of the stuff with Serapio and his connection with the crow god and all of the other gods and their followings will be explained more in the second book, and I hope it is because I LOVE learning about the religious groups in books.
Now. I’m going to rant about my favorite character. Serapio. Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I love him SO MUCH. He was BY FAR my favorite. Even from the first chapter with him going through his ritual to become the Odo Sedoh I was hooked on him. That chapter immediately established a connection in me to him because I kept waiting for his point of view to come back. All of the times where we got to hear about his past and his tutors were heartbreaking, except for Powageh who was actually pretty chill. He had such a terrible childhood, but I know that knowing his destiny and what he was meant to do with Odo Sedoh and his crow friends made it slightly better for him and gave him a reason to keep going. And then after he met Xiala, he had another reason: her. From the moment they first *met* they were drawn to each other, and their relationship developing on their journey together was so sweet to read even though it couldn’t have ended well. (Although their little scenes on the boat and in the bathhouse and with the honey… OMG. Anyway.) And I love how he was a strong, powerful, incredible warrior and person and how he was able to work with being blind and even using it to his advantage with the crows and stuff. And he was such an interesting character as well because of his relationship with good/evil and how he perceived himself and his destiny and how it affected other people, Xiala included. Long story short, I am so scared for Serapio now and he needs to be okay because I love him.
Not only was the insane research the author did on pre-Columbian culture extremely evident, but the representation was also SO WELL DONE (in my opinion). There was so much thought put into Serapio’s blindness and how it impacted his character and his abilities and seeing a character like him was so nice. I also admire how Xiala’s sexuality was done. She wasn’t ashamed of it at all, even though she knew others discriminated against her for it (since she was in jail for flirting with a woman in the beginning), but that also didn’t stop her from flirting with Aishe on the ship and making jokes with her crew (before they all betrayed her and tried to kill her and before Serapio murdered them lol). Not only that, but I also really love how gender was presented here. Iktan and Powageh (I think both of them, definitely Powageh) were both non-binary (a third gender in their culture) with xe/xir pronouns (WHICH YOU DON’T SEE MUCH OF IN LITERATURE AND I AM ALWAYS SO GLAD TO SEE NEOPRONOUNS), and Maaka’s wife from the cult was a trans woman! I believe this also ties into the culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations, and I am so glad to see it now. I’m always a sucker for good representation. :)
The only reason that this is only a 4.5- and not a 5-star book is because I didn’t really like Naranpa. As a character, I think her arc is very well done with her losing her position as Sun Priest and all and having to go through those assassination attempts and all of the drama with Abah and Ekhe trying to overthrow her, but I just found her POVs boring. I kept skimming through them because there wasn’t a lot of action (with exceptions, of course), unlike how there was always something happening with Xiala and Serapio. I kept wanting to go back to them and be done with her parts. I’m still impartial on Okoa for now, although after the ending with him finding Serapio after *that* whole thing happened, I think he’ll play a much bigger role in the second book, along with Naranpa as well hopefully after her little ritual too. I have hopes for them, but I don’t think the first book did them justice. :/
Overall, this was a fantastic book. The worldbuilding and representation were so vivid and the characters were so lovable and interesting and have a lot of potential for book two. That cliffhanger at the end was BRUTAL. I’M SO CONCERNED. I will definitely try to read book two when I can find the time, but in the meantime, I’ll just be thinking about Serapio and Xiala and how much I want to see more books with this culture as inspiration. I LOVED it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide
llyfrauginger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Cursing, Genocide, and Suicide
percyu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide
readwithanne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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: Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
marleens's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The world building and the characters in this awesome book took my breath away. The settings were amazing, especially Tova, and described in just the right amount of details. The POVs were all interesting and all very distinct people with different voices and motivations. I loved all the representation in it as well.
The only little negative was with the ‘romance’ part of the storyline, that didn’t really work for me and I would have much preferred just a friendship there. But other than that I loved it and am looking forward to picking up the sequel, because that ending…. Wow.
The only little negative was with the ‘romance’ part of the storyline, that didn’t really work for me and I would have much preferred just a friendship there. But other than that I loved it and am looking forward to picking up the sequel, because that ending…. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide
rae_bookmarkchronicles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I was not sure what to expect even though I had heard great things. This was great. A little slow to start but once the story gets going you will be hooked! Looking forward to reading the sequel even though I've heard mixed things.
I liked all of the characters that we follow except Narampa
I appreciated the LGBTQIA+ rep and I think this may be the only book I've read with the use of xe/xir pronouns
I liked all of the characters that we follow except Narampa
I appreciated the LGBTQIA+ rep and I think this may be the only book I've read with the use of xe/xir pronouns
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"There was magic in the world, pure and simple. Things she didn't understand. Best get used to it."
I'm waffling hard on whether to give this the 5 stars that I feel like it deserves, and the 4 stars I want to give it out of consistency with my other books I really loved but didn't stick the landing. I'm definitely sure this was a favorite book of this year for me so far, though.
The story this book tells is from the point of view of four different characters. Xiala, a Teek captain tasked with ferrying a blind man to a distant city within a very short time for an urgent date with a Sun Priest before the Convergence (an eclipse on the solstice). Serapio is the blind man, blinded by his mother at a young age to be the vessel for a crow god bent on vengeance against the priests for a wrong done to its people, clan Carrion Crow. Naranpa, the Sun Priest, a low-born priest given the highest rank amonst the priests by the previous Sun Priest and having to navigate office priesthood politics as a result, and Okoa, reluctant leader of clan Carrion Crow, having to deal with the potential fallout a vengeful crow god on the loose will bring his people.
We get a lot of character development between Xiala and Serapio on their voyage to Serapio's appointment which I loved, and we learn a bit about Xiala's people, the Teek, and the strange powers she inherited. I loved Okoa's viewpoint as well, as he feels his way through leading clan Carrion Crow through potentially turbulent times. I thought Neranpa's viewpoint was the weakest of the four, but also necessary to show how fractured the priesthood is. She's a bit naiive, a bit annoying, and a bit gullible, and I found her chapters a bit boring but necessary to tell the larger story.
I feel like the ending of this book was super weak though, and while the second book is out for me to dive into at the time I'm writing this, I think I'd be a bit harsher with docking the book a star if it wasn't. After the buildup, the ending is a bit of a slap in the face.
All that said though, this was a really great read, and I look forward to reading the second book.
I'm waffling hard on whether to give this the 5 stars that I feel like it deserves, and the 4 stars I want to give it out of consistency with my other books I really loved but didn't stick the landing. I'm definitely sure this was a favorite book of this year for me so far, though.
The story this book tells is from the point of view of four different characters. Xiala, a Teek captain tasked with ferrying a blind man to a distant city within a very short time for an urgent date with a Sun Priest before the Convergence (an eclipse on the solstice). Serapio is the blind man, blinded by his mother at a young age to be the vessel for a crow god bent on vengeance against the priests for a wrong done to its people, clan Carrion Crow. Naranpa, the Sun Priest, a low-born priest given the highest rank amonst the priests by the previous Sun Priest and having to navigate office priesthood politics as a result, and Okoa, reluctant leader of clan Carrion Crow, having to deal with the potential fallout a vengeful crow god on the loose will bring his people.
We get a lot of character development between Xiala and Serapio on their voyage to Serapio's appointment which I loved, and we learn a bit about Xiala's people, the Teek, and the strange powers she inherited. I loved Okoa's viewpoint as well, as he feels his way through leading clan Carrion Crow through potentially turbulent times. I thought Neranpa's viewpoint was the weakest of the four, but also necessary to show how fractured the priesthood is. She's a bit naiive, a bit annoying, and a bit gullible, and I found her chapters a bit boring but necessary to tell the larger story.
I feel like the ending of this book was super weak though, and while the second book is out for me to dive into at the time I'm writing this, I think I'd be a bit harsher with docking the book a star if it wasn't. After the buildup, the ending is a bit of a slap in the face.
All that said though, this was a really great read, and I look forward to reading the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Suicide