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anigoose's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this very much.
The audiobook narrators were excellent and absolutely enhanced the whole reading experience.
The audiobook narrators were excellent and absolutely enhanced the whole reading experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Death
kelseyland's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An intriguing fantasy with a richly imagined world inspired by pre-Columbian America. This book has it all: badass characters, compelling quests, and even a healthy dose of political scheming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
It's the first book of a series and there are lots of loose ends, so if you're looking for a self-contained/standalone story, this might not be the novel to go with.okays1331's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am so upset that I didn't realize this was the first in a series until I was halfway through. And the second book doesn't even have so much as a release date yet! I devoured it finishing it in two days only by necessity of sleep. I was 90% done with the book at 1 AM.
Dark and beautiful and complicated. Each character is compelling and haunting. Through the perspective shifts you can see the steady marching towards the day of reckoning. It is not until that point that all of the stories converge. The author shows you how to love each of them and want them to succeed, but it is obvious from the beginning that they are all on different sides of the conflict. There is no way the culmination can go well for all of them. And I did not know who I was rooting for or what would be "right".
Serapio's story has impaled my heart with a hundred crow feathers. His innocence of life and intense trauma, his discovery of the every day along side his wisdom of the ancient. The singularity of purpose he has cuts through the political intrigue and backstabbing and plans of humans blazing an inevitable trail to the climax of the book. You see him coming like the great storm he is far off in the distance but there is nothing to be done to halt it or even get out of the way. At the same time, he is tasting fish for the first time and learning about the stars and making his first friend.
While we wait on the next book, I need someone to make gorgeous fan art of these characters, so I can obsess over how beautiful this world is.
Dark and beautiful and complicated. Each character is compelling and haunting. Through the perspective shifts you can see the steady marching towards the day of reckoning. It is not until that point that all of the stories converge. The author shows you how to love each of them and want them to succeed, but it is obvious from the beginning that they are all on different sides of the conflict. There is no way the culmination can go well for all of them. And I did not know who I was rooting for or what would be "right".
Serapio's story has impaled my heart with a hundred crow feathers. His innocence of life and intense trauma, his discovery of the every day along side his wisdom of the ancient. The singularity of purpose he has cuts through the political intrigue and backstabbing and plans of humans blazing an inevitable trail to the climax of the book. You see him coming like the great storm he is far off in the distance but there is nothing to be done to halt it or even get out of the way. At the same time, he is tasting fish for the first time and learning about the stars and making his first friend.
While we wait on the next book, I need someone to make gorgeous fan art of these characters, so I can obsess over how beautiful this world is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
maryellen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'd give this one more than 5 stars if I could.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, and Grief
jbraith's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood
mandkips's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Cursing
annbutnotanne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was definitively nothing like I was expecting, and so very good.
This book, emotionally, took a lot out of me, and I can't quite tell you why. I fell in love with the characters, specifically Xiala and Serapio, so deeply, and I was just so incredibly invested in their storyline and I just wanted them to be happy so I, naturally, got very upset when they weren't happy, which of course was all the time because they're the protagonists.
That's not to say none of the other characters were particularly developed, but they just weren't as interesting or as inherently loveable as these two. It doesn't even necessarily feel like we know these characters all that well, same for the rest of the cast, but I love them anyway.
The world building also was really fascinating, particularly when it came down to the political climate in Tova, which, again, felt a bit like the scratching of the surface of it all, but what we got was so fascinating in regards to the Celestial Council and their relationship to the different cities and the different clans within the city. I loved seeing the way that the subplot in Tova connected with Serapio and Xiala's journey and how all the pieces of this little puzzle fit together.
I also loved how the backgrounds of the characters determined certain assumptions they would make about societies and who they would assume would be in power. If someone was raised in a patriarchal society, they would immediately assume that the person in power was a man when it was often the opposite. I really enjoyed those added details, it really allowed these characters to show their distinct backgrounds without being obvious about it.
I suppose my biggest gripe with the book would be that nothing that happened here felt all too surprising. Characters who were giving off bad vibes ended up being bad guys, characters who were giving off good vibes were...not really good, but at the least were conducive to the protagonists' plans. Even then, I'm okay with my plots being simplistic like this, especially when being thrown head-first into such an intriguing world.
I 100% plan to continue on and see what this series has waiting for me. I don't think I'll be disappointed.
This book, emotionally, took a lot out of me, and I can't quite tell you why. I fell in love with the characters, specifically Xiala and Serapio, so deeply, and I was just so incredibly invested in their storyline and I just wanted them to be happy so I, naturally, got very upset when they weren't happy, which of course was all the time because they're the protagonists.
That's not to say none of the other characters were particularly developed, but they just weren't as interesting or as inherently loveable as these two. It doesn't even necessarily feel like we know these characters all that well, same for the rest of the cast, but I love them anyway.
The world building also was really fascinating, particularly when it came down to the political climate in Tova, which, again, felt a bit like the scratching of the surface of it all, but what we got was so fascinating in regards to the Celestial Council and their relationship to the different cities and the different clans within the city. I loved seeing the way that the subplot in Tova connected with Serapio and Xiala's journey and how all the pieces of this little puzzle fit together.
I also loved how the backgrounds of the characters determined certain assumptions they would make about societies and who they would assume would be in power. If someone was raised in a patriarchal society, they would immediately assume that the person in power was a man when it was often the opposite. I really enjoyed those added details, it really allowed these characters to show their distinct backgrounds without being obvious about it.
I suppose my biggest gripe with the book would be that nothing that happened here felt all too surprising. Characters who were giving off bad vibes ended up being bad guys, characters who were giving off good vibes were...not really good, but at the least were conducive to the protagonists' plans. Even then, I'm okay with my plots being simplistic like this, especially when being thrown head-first into such an intriguing world.
I 100% plan to continue on and see what this series has waiting for me. I don't think I'll be disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, and Blood
bookishbutch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Biphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
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