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olympia98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Forse troppo lungo e complicato il periodo passato nella prova ma sono sicura che sia per costruire una buona backstory di tanti personaggi. Inoltre la scrittura e la trama tiene incollati alla pagina fino alla fine. Ottimo primo libro, mi fiondo subito sugli altri.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Medical content, Colonisation, and Blood
lonelylooper's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Death of parent, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia, Excrement, and Cannibalism
gemstonejasper's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book's been on my radar for a while, but I finally bit the bullet and started it for a read-along leading up to the release of the last book. I went in pretty much completely blind. All I knew was that it was a sci-fi dystopian set on Mars. I had also heard that it gives Hunger Games vibes.
Someone also said that this is a YA book, but it isn't. Darrow starts as a 16-year-old, but I have no doubt it was written for adults. Every time I was reminded that he was 16, it pulled me out of the story for a moment. It felt jarring. He didn't at all act 16. The audiobook narrator sounded like he was at least in his 20s. He was way too mature to be 16 and he starts out the story with a wife. I know that it was probably meant to demonstrate that kids are working these dangerous jobs in the mines. And his life experiences could 100% cause him to seem more mature than most 16-year-olds. But there are real developmental limitations on how his mind would work. So that pulled me out a few times.
To be honest, the book starts pretty slow in my opinion. It took me several chapters to really get into it. I liked it, but I would go a couple of days between chapters. But once they got into the school and things ramped up, I was in it. It just kept getting more and more intense. It was a wild ride, but I loved it. There were lots of surprises.
I would get a little annoyed because Darrow's motivation seemed to only revolve around his wife. It does struggle with the "woman written by a man" syndrome where his wife only existed and died to motivate him. Also, violence against women is used repeatedly to move the story forward. There were woman characters who only existed it be assaulted, and then Darrow could react to the abuse. There are other ways to show that someone is bad. Not every single bad guy needs to assault the women around them. But the rest of the book was really good, so I can overlook that.
I also got kind of annoyed sometimes that Darrow didn't really make many mistakes. He did, but they came across to me as mistakes he had to make for the plot rather than mistakes he actually would make. He didn't seem to make legit mistakes.
Note: Sevro was the best by far. Protect him at all costs.
Someone also said that this is a YA book, but it isn't. Darrow starts as a 16-year-old, but I have no doubt it was written for adults. Every time I was reminded that he was 16, it pulled me out of the story for a moment. It felt jarring. He didn't at all act 16. The audiobook narrator sounded like he was at least in his 20s. He was way too mature to be 16 and he starts out the story with a wife. I know that it was probably meant to demonstrate that kids are working these dangerous jobs in the mines. And his life experiences could 100% cause him to seem more mature than most 16-year-olds. But there are real developmental limitations on how his mind would work. So that pulled me out a few times.
To be honest, the book starts pretty slow in my opinion. It took me several chapters to really get into it. I liked it, but I would go a couple of days between chapters. But once they got into the school and things ramped up, I was in it. It just kept getting more and more intense. It was a wild ride, but I loved it. There were lots of surprises.
I would get a little annoyed because Darrow's motivation seemed to only revolve around his wife. It does struggle with the "woman written by a man" syndrome where his wife only existed and died to motivate him. Also, violence against women is used repeatedly to move the story forward. There were woman characters who only existed it be assaulted, and then Darrow could react to the abuse. There are other ways to show that someone is bad. Not every single bad guy needs to assault the women around them. But the rest of the book was really good, so I can overlook that.
Note: Sevro was the best by far. Protect him at all costs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Murder, War, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death, Slavery, Grief, Rape, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cannibalism
lvl52_grant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
There is a lot to like about this book. The setting and overall plot are immensely intriguing, and the promise of a rebellion brewing in the system has me hooked for the rest of the series, but oh my GOD is the main character annoying in the beginning! By the end he just becomes a vessel for cool monologs, which is fine and some of them hit really hard, but I felt like the story was constantly working itself up to zero. Darrow is a bit of a Mary Sue, constantly one step ahead of the enemy and reader, but the most annoying thing is he knows it. It was the monologs, which I heard first from a voice actor on Instagram, that got my attention, and they were the only saving grace of a lackluster protagonist. Everything else was awesome though, and I'm very curious how the rest of the series goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, War, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
morris42's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, War, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Cannibalism
litagentsaritza's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The depictions of warfare and classism in this first installment are brutal yet believable. Fans of Game of Thrones and Hunger Games are likely to enjoy this dystopian futuristic work.
I would have liked to see more gender roles as this is truly binary in its depictions of gender and show little to no sexuality diversity. Races are also vague and there is very little disability rep that is also vague in its depiction .
I would have liked to see more gender roles as this is truly binary in its depictions of gender and show little to no sexuality diversity. Races are also vague and there is very little disability rep that is also vague in its depiction .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Slavery, Classism, Gore, Death, War, and Torture
Minor: Rape
neoralisa22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Darrow is the reason you shouldn't give a 16 years old too much power.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Physical abuse, Murder, Excrement, Blood, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual assault, Rape, Classism, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Minor: Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Misogyny, and Slavery
linkwoodpub's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Incredible execution on a very cheesy premise. It took me a long time to dive in, but once I did it was an absolute rollercoaster (in a good way).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Racism, Rape, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
kaylanicholsmith's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Hmm... where to begin with this....
I feel like I was really excited to get to this finally because of all the hype that I've heard over all the years and it was... fine? This book is kinda dense. You get thrown right into the world of Darrow, the main character, and you are learning as you go. There is nothing about the world, the language, the setting that is really explained to you. Darrow, as a character, kinda expects people to just know what he is talking about. Sometimes this narrative style works for me and other times it doesn't. Ultimately, the writing style as a whole just wasn't my favorite. I kept trying to remind myself that we are primarily reading from the perspective of teenage boys (yuck) but it just felt over the top with the juvenile quality sometimes. Also, my biggest pet peeve in books, any genre, is when the author has to insert fart jokes or fart commentary (usually as an insult to another character). I just can't stand it. The amount of times the author used "turd" could also warrant some kind of an award.
Despite the issues with the writing my biggest question with this story was the handling of sexual assault. On one hand, I feel like the author did do something a little different than a lot of other male fantasy/scifi writers - the female characters were not only there to be sexually assaulted and serve no other purpose. However, on the other hand, the amount of sexual assault still felt gratuitous and the female characters underdeveloped. While there is nothing graphic on the page, there is ample talk about the sexual assaults taking place, and not all of it is condemning the actions taking place. Granted, sexual violence is quite commonplace in war situations and the bystander effect is a terrible thing that happens everyday, but the author didn't really seem to tackle the issue quite as head on as he might have thought he was. Perhaps that was because there is SO MUCH going on in this first book - I think that we cover about 2 years in the course of this first book - and it flies. There is no real delving into any of the social issues that are being raised in the book. Everything felt super surface level.
I haven't totally written off the rest of the series but I'm in no major rush to continue on. I wonder if, as the story continues to build, that the commentary will become stronger and the writing more palatable but who knows. Maybe I never will... we'll see.
I feel like I was really excited to get to this finally because of all the hype that I've heard over all the years and it was... fine? This book is kinda dense. You get thrown right into the world of Darrow, the main character, and you are learning as you go. There is nothing about the world, the language, the setting that is really explained to you. Darrow, as a character, kinda expects people to just know what he is talking about. Sometimes this narrative style works for me and other times it doesn't. Ultimately, the writing style as a whole just wasn't my favorite. I kept trying to remind myself that we are primarily reading from the perspective of teenage boys (yuck) but it just felt over the top with the juvenile quality sometimes. Also, my biggest pet peeve in books, any genre, is when the author has to insert fart jokes or fart commentary (usually as an insult to another character). I just can't stand it. The amount of times the author used "turd" could also warrant some kind of an award.
Despite the issues with the writing my biggest question with this story was the handling of sexual assault. On one hand, I feel like the author did do something a little different than a lot of other male fantasy/scifi writers - the female characters were not only there to be sexually assaulted and serve no other purpose. However, on the other hand, the amount of sexual assault still felt gratuitous and the female characters underdeveloped. While there is nothing graphic on the page, there is ample talk about the sexual assaults taking place, and not all of it is condemning the actions taking place. Granted, sexual violence is quite commonplace in war situations and the bystander effect is a terrible thing that happens everyday, but the author didn't really seem to tackle the issue quite as head on as he might have thought he was. Perhaps that was because there is SO MUCH going on in this first book - I think that we cover about 2 years in the course of this first book - and it flies. There is no real delving into any of the social issues that are being raised in the book. Everything felt super surface level.
I haven't totally written off the rest of the series but I'm in no major rush to continue on. I wonder if, as the story continues to build, that the commentary will become stronger and the writing more palatable but who knows. Maybe I never will... we'll see.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Bullying, Racism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Ableism, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Slavery, War, Gore, Murder, Animal death, and Blood
maybe_shelby's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Torture