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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Child death, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent and Rape
hollowistheworld's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
It's always fun to find a high fantasy that isn't just England with a dragon slapped in, and it's even nicer to find stories that aren't christian-centric. Saladin Ahmed put together a well crafted world with a real-feeling city, full of people who cannot worry about monsters while they're trying to find their next meal. It's rare I'm so pleased with a creator's statements on morality, but Ahmed delivers the finale with a strong statement that no moral code can hold up in the face of the realities of the world. Life is messy and complicated.
It was also a pleasant surprise to learn this book features not one but three main characters who are over 50 and are still living full, adventurous lives and are struggling with the truth of life that you learn of with time. The two teenagers would have bothered me in many other stories, but their certainty against the experience of the elders made for both compelling diaglogue and humorous juxtaposition.And none of them even die! Or their love interests! What a treat that is!
My primary criticism is the 'romance' between Raseed and Zamia, and I put that in quotations because it has no ground to stand on. He was a boy. She was a girl. They haven't had a single conversation more than two sentences long but they're madly in love. It speaks to the quality of the rest of the story that my eye rolling of this little love story wasn't enough to drop my rating below a 3.
It was also a pleasant surprise to learn this book features not one but three main characters who are over 50 and are still living full, adventurous lives and are struggling with the truth of life that you learn of with time. The two teenagers would have bothered me in many other stories, but their certainty against the experience of the elders made for both compelling diaglogue and humorous juxtaposition.
My primary criticism is the 'romance' between Raseed and Zamia, and I put that in quotations because it has no ground to stand on. He was a boy. She was a girl. They haven't had a single conversation more than two sentences long but they're madly in love. It speaks to the quality of the rest of the story that my eye rolling of this little love story wasn't enough to drop my rating below a 3.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexism
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