Reviews

This was a pretty quick read and pretty entertaining. Lots of twists and turns, most of which being pretty predictable but it was still interesting. I appreciated the attention to the plot and character development of not only Deka, but also the side characters. The writing was good, but some of the world building confused me a bit.

There was a good friend group in this book. I think some of them were undeveloped, though. I absolutely love the girl friendships and it makes me happy that the Bechdel test was passed with flying colors. Additionally, there was not an annoying third-act scene that broke the friendships up for a little bit and then they later become friends again at the end. That is so annoying so I really appreciated how supportive the friend group was for the entirety of the novel. I think this was definitely true women supporting women behavior.

The romance was so underdeveloped and I was so uninterested. I can't believe that they are out here saying they are in love when they only seemed to have little random moments together and everything else was off-page. It was more telling, not showing. Also, Deka randomly keeps mentioning that guy Ionas from her village who killed her in the first couple chapters of the book and even states that she loved him near the end of the book. WHAT?? They barely spoke to each other and in the beginning of the book, Deka stated that they did not really have any interactions previous to the start of the book anyway, she just kind of thought he was hot. How did she suddenly say that she used to love him? Am I missing something? I don't know, it was just weird.

Overall this was an interesting story and was an entertaining read. I might pick up the sequel, even though it seems like everything was completely wrapped up!

alexacat_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-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

3.5

liaashryver's review against another edition

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5.0

“

stephanie_mcel's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

bfrance99's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-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

4.5

What an amazing concept, brilliant writing and compelling characters (the holy trinity)! I loved this, and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

I was hooked in from the very start, where Deka is identified as ‘impure’ during the Ritual of Purity and subject to the Death Mandate. She’s then whisked away from her torture to join the emperor’s special, new army to defeat the deathshrieks.

I really liked Deka as a character, especially her friendship with Britta (and the other bloodsisters) and her tutorship with White Hands.

I found it difficult to picture some parts of the book - what do deathshrieks look like? - but the world was well written and I enjoyed the ending and the way it’s been set up for the next book. I’m not sure how the second book is going to live up to this one, but I’m excited to read it anyway!

wicked_bibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

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