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_forestofpages'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
4.25
Now, why it isn't a higher rating:
I did feel at times that Nahri for all her experience with thieves and conmen, she was blind when it came to Dara and the royals. This character in particular, felt passive at times when she shouldn't be (based on her fiery personality) and aggressive when she REALLY shouldn't have been (like when she knew she was in danger and should keep quiet), which would have been fine except her whole career (as a con artist) was based on trickery and charisma, knowing when to speak and how. And yet, as soon as she was with Dara all of that was out the window. She was inconsistent, so as a character I didn't know if I really liked her or not since she went back and forth with her personality.
Also Dara being a liar the whole book made me unsure if I could like him either. I never knew where he would land, what side he was on, or what his real motives were and because this wasn't revealed in book 1 and he is (for now) gone, I can't really say how I feel about him. I can tell you the romance between Dara and Nahri also did nothing for me.
Graphic: Death, War, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape
reddeddy's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Slavery, Xenophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and War
Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, Bullying, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Child death, Outing, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Torture, Child abuse, Biphobia, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Drug use, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Islamophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, and Rape
alixcalfa's review
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
wandering_not_lost's review
4.0
The book does sag a bit in the middle, since after Nahri and Dara's action-filled meeting and subsequent race to Daevabad, the machinations of the city itself take over, and it feels a bit more like a standard "special young person must learn to use their Special Powers while outmaneuvering the Mean People who don't like them" story. I feel like the politics itself is reasonably and entertainingly done - I can understand why everyone is doing what they're doing, and there are multiple factions in the city who all have legitimate grievances against each other. Nahri's being caught in the middle and constantly unsure of what her best move is is also understandable, because she ALSO has no idea what's going on, and the people who are her best "allies" constantly are hiding things from her to try to manipulate her.
This sort of politics-laden story can easily tick me off either due to a too reckless or too naive protagonist bumbling about, or to the other characters' motivations and goals not being convincingly drawn or paced. In the end, Nahri's character pulled me through, as she gets fairly screwed over from all sides, but doesn't make any boneheaded mistakes herself. Honestly, by the end of the book I was determined to read the next book just in the hope of seeing her get some payback for the wrongs done to her.
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
brookesinfinitebooks'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Racism and Classism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
tyrfishy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The ending did redeem the second half. And I loved reading non-western inspired fantasy for a change. But the world is quite brutal and I struggled with that. Although characters did care about the injustice, if the trilogy as a whole isn't about confronting this (which to be fair it does seem like it will?) then I'd definitely say the way the readers attention is regularly (and at times casually) drawn to the oppression and violence faced by the shafit particularly is overkill.
Moderate: Sexual assault
SA is not onscreen or graphic but mentioned multiple times, usually in the wider context of the shafit who are 2nd class citizens and do not get justice.erebus53's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
I tackled this book as part of a book club (Lighthouse Library thicc bois :) ). It wasn't something I had heard of before that. It starts off set in Cairo with a young woman of unknown origin who is a theif, swindler and survivor, and who has a mysterious healing talent and the ability to understand languages, which she hides to avoid people thinking her a dangerous witch.
Her world is upended when she utters some words of power while doing a faith healing scam, and unexpectedly summons something to her. This leads to her and a big scary soldier guy on the run from murderous ghouls and ifrits. She learns of the world of Daeva and Djinns and journeys to find sanctuary in a magical hidden city, all the while being hunted and tracked by mysterious forces and magical creatures.
Having read a children's translation of the Persian epic Shahnameh, some of the creatures and names were familiar to me. I did keep wondering if Nahri's uncle had an epic warhorse called Rakhsh. I find that I clearly have a lot more grounding in the myths of the Pacific Islands, the Mediterranean, Europe and the British Isles, and need to read more mythic stories from other parts of the world. This story weaves together myth from many places in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South and East Asia. Thematically it pits Tradtions, family, individualism, duty, and survival together in a story that sets up a world that I feel is yet to be explored and played in. That's quite a big book for an intro!
The main character is antiheroic. She is a thief, a liar, and a con-artist. She is used to not having a lot and needing to swindle what she can, and so she is out of her depth when she is cast into a palace with opulence at all turns. She is under no illusions that everyone has their own agenda, and that appearances are often skin-deep. It can make for slippery footing as you try to come to grips with a story where there are centuries of history, of alliances and rivalry.
As far as the elemental magic goes, it's generally coherent. The story has some curiosities but non of the "surprises" are overly so. I'm interested to wade into the world and see a little more.
Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, War, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Classism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infertility, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Excrement
Minor: Dementia, Chronic illness, Classism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Cancer, and Abandonment
cutiemuffin23's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Colonisation, Slavery, War, Xenophobia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Infertility, Biphobia, Homophobia, Grief, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, and Alcohol
madamenovelist'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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, War, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, Child death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Misogyny, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence