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huntress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Chronic illness, War, Terminal illness, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Slavery, Grief, Genocide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cannibalism
jonie_rich's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Cannibalism, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
chellyfishing's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Vomit, Child death, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: Cannibalism and Toxic relationship
aether_seawo1f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Gaslighting, and War
froyobaggns's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Cursing, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Genocide, Slavery, and War
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Genocide and War
lucky_19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Violence, Death, Child death, and Body horror
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: War, Suicide, and Excrement
erebus53's review
- 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
4.0
This is a story about a group of necromancers, each paired with a fighter, who are attempting to unlock the secrets of a complex that will allow them to ascend to semi-godhood. They are needed as the tools of a mighty god necrolord who is .. running out of minions (which could cause the end of the empire?). The plot flow runs like a party based RPG and the challenges feel a bit like a videogame. I was reminded of Portal more than once.
This book is a confluence of nerdinesses. The language was appealing to me because the author is a New Zealander (like me). Many of the quirky idioms are from my local Kiwi dialect and from internet memespeek, which meant that I was right at home with the queer parlance. There was even a "yeah nah" in there which made me chuckle, and, until now, I have never once heard of someone referred to in a novel as "a bit of a d*ck". As someone who is interested in anatomy, I found myself familiar with medical terminology that was liberally peppered through the book, and as someone who reads psychology books, I was also familiar with random gushes of pop-psychology neuroscience. This might make the book a little impenetrable or, just exotic? to some readers.
As far as the action in the story is concerned, combat flows like an action anime. There are rapier duels and magic duels and combos of the two. There are weird undead things and so much rot, bone, teeth, goo, viscera, flesh, blood, body parts.. unidentifiable liquids. Things jab and pierce and stick and gloop and spray. I was reminded of Akira, Elfen Lied, and Attack on Titan (and many other newer and less well known titles). The plot turns on a dime and the antagonists launch into expository monologues that reveal that you were completely in the dark in so many ways, but I don't hate it.
Also as in anime there are some .. kind of problematic moments that are pure "fanservice". The main character is continually eyeing-up and sexualising other characters, which comes across as funny, and also very gay, but also a bit eyerollingly cringe.
Wrap this all together with some deep lore, trauma-informed tragic backstory, a few (deliberately) disastrously toxic relationships, and some feels, and you get a recipe for a book that launches a fandom. Yeah, I'll read the others, even if parts of it are a hot mess and I don't actually enjoy all the fight-scenes and battles. The characters are fun and there is enough deliberately left unrevealed that I am intrigued to find out what comes next.
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Death of parent, Cancer, Chronic illness, Gore, Violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Confinement, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
elizmoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
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actual review:
half the time i had no idea what was going on, but i didn’t care because i was having an incredible time. i wish more books were this unapologetically ambitious with genre, plot, and world building. i’m absolutely feral to start harrow the ninth!!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Vomit, Child death, Body horror, Grief, Suicide, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Cursing
Moderate: Abandonment and War
punkrobots's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Stalking
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement