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bookrecsplease's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The beginning of this book honestly read like the weakest entry in the ToG series so far, starting to feel like more of a fetch quest holding us back from finishing the final conflict.
There was barely any distinction in the voices of all the POV characters of the same gender, and it felt like all characters (non-POV, too) were reacting in similar ways to everything they came up against. Elide, especially, I felt changed her whole character out of the blue from the last book to sound more like Aelin.
And the thing is, if every one of your characters puts on a swaggering arrogance in all tense conversations, that chuckling, smirking bravado simply doesn’t pack the same punch anymore. It is just so silly to me that every single person in a diplomatic or intimidating situation has the same sort of attitude and approach, and not only story-wise does that not make sense, but also writing-wise it gets redundant as Mass uses the same kinds of adjectives and adverbs to describe those identical attitudes. I think I read the word “drawl” or “drawled” over 100 times.
The way that all the good characters understand each other’s thoughts kept taking me out of the story because I felt like it got a little ridiculous. Like, with one look, a character (who, if this makes any difference, barely knows the other) understands that the one who LOOKED at them wants them to take another person and get them out of that situation as soon as possible once a conflict begins. I mean, that would be at least a three-gesture and look communication if you’re not using words. It was just a little absurd the way they could basically read each other’s minds all the time so that narratively, we could keep moving forward.
It happened with characters understanding each other’s motivations and feelings without talking to each other, too. One would watch another one have a certain expression on their face and just definitely know why they felt that way, putting together details from their personal history with what was presently happening, and boom. Character arc identified. It wasn’t a huge thing, but it kept making the characters feel less and less real every time it happened.
This isn’t an original complaint in all of fantasy as a whole, but particularly in this book I kept feeling that the series would be 10x better if Aelin were 30 years old so that all of the life debts other people have for her and all of her secretive history makes so much more sense.
SJM always writes shocking endings, but in this case, I felt like a lot of the reveals were things I was hoping to happen throughout the book and were frustrating to not see going on earlier in the story, only saved for the very end for dramatic effect and not logical narrative flow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Torture, War, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit
rafacolog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Violence, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, War, and Blood
nerdkitten's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Genocide, Infidelity, and Sexism
nutmeggsie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
anaya_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Keep in mind that this is a problematic author and I’m reading this from a library outlet so I’m not profiting SJM. SJM is a racist, Zionist, and ableist but unfortunately she does know how to develop a morally grey mc. All in all, I change my mind, this is my favorite in the series. I absolutely love Aelin and her wits in this book.The end also broke me a little. I usually don’t like slower paced fantasy novels this one I liked. I would’ve gave it a higher rating if not for some out-of-character and negative themes that are perpetuated in this novel and the entire series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Slavery
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