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rafacolog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Blood
bibliorama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.75
Enjoyment - 4
Start - 3.5
Characters - 3.5
Atmosphere - 4
Plot - 4
Ending - 4
Style - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Start - 3.5
Characters - 3.5
Atmosphere - 4
Plot - 4
Ending - 4
Style - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Colonisation, and War
First I want to clarify the sexual assault tag, I would say it's more of an attempt and it's very brief towards to end and not explicit in any way. Mainly it's implied that that's what the villian is doing. There isn't any other part where something like that happenswonkyghost's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
goes into detail about work canpslktx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The concept behind this book is novel I guess, and Meira gives off some snarky protagonist vibes which I like but then her sense of humor and the whole love triangle crash a little with the seriousness of the topics in the plot. Ultimately this made the book land flat to me. There are many trope situations, which don't make sense for the plot or character growth.
A problematic approach to race and holocaust and genocide doesn't help. I don't mean for every book to be "morally correct" but this is a fantasy book published in the 2010s, I would expect for the genre to grow past "pale people good, brown people bad" dichotomy. Most of Meira's "strong independent woman" attitude feels performative because the rest of female characters are flat and typically femenine, with Meira even criticizing them at times.
This definitely needed more time in the oven because it feels like it had potential but as it is, I won't be continuing the saga.
A problematic approach to race and holocaust and genocide doesn't help. I don't mean for every book to be "morally correct" but this is a fantasy book published in the 2010s, I would expect for the genre to grow past "pale people good, brown people bad" dichotomy. Most of Meira's "strong independent woman" attitude feels performative because the rest of female characters are flat and typically femenine, with Meira even criticizing them at times.
This definitely needed more time in the oven because it feels like it had potential but as it is, I won't be continuing the saga.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Genocide
okays1331's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It starts out feeling very formulaic for a YA novel. Forbidden best friend romance. Girl is not allowed to be the warrior she always wanted to be. Love triangle (thankfully not played into too much).
But the magic system gets really interesting, and the bad guy is really really bad. The main character starts off feeling very young, but grows a lot through the story as she learns what it really means to sacrifice and put her people first. As she matures, so does the story, and I am very much looking forward to reading the second book!
But the magic system gets really interesting, and the bad guy is really really bad. The main character starts off feeling very young, but grows a lot through the story as she learns what it really means to sacrifice and put her people first. As she matures, so does the story, and I am very much looking forward to reading the second book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Physical abuse
Moderate: Genocide
There is a scene of abuse where it is not explicitly stated that rape is what is about to happen, but it sure feels like it.