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abrielleruth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual assault
katiechasingchapters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence and Animal death
phiagrace97's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
madipenn'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Murder, and Outing
Minor: War
esterareads'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: Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, Blood, Homophobia, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
clairefrances_8'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual violence and Murder
Author gives adequate trigger warnings in beginning of the book. You could skip the scene itself as the moment of sexual assault occurs early on and is referenced without details throughout the bookmaggienack's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Kidnapping
gaden35'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
5.0
THIS is how you do a recovery from SA story. THIS is how you do a forced proximity/arranged marriage trope. The discussions of consent in many forms and in many arenas are refreshing and nice to finally see in a fantasy novel. The main sex scene was well done and avoided many (not all haha) of the SFF/Romantasy tropes. The ones it used were well done.
And Foz has built a world I am yearning to learn more about. And proves how inclusive fantasy can be if you just care enough.
LOVE THIS BOOK.
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
lady_wallflower_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
The good:
I really enjoyed the world building. The book focuses on two countries, Ralia and Tithena. Ralia is very conservative and Tithena is a country where people of all genders and sexual preferences are celebrated. I loved seeing how inclusive the world was and the way the author built the culture was really captivating.
The main relationship was also really well done! Vel and Cae were both individually wonderful and I loved seeing their relationship grow. The entire book takes up only a few weeks of time so there will be a lot more to investigate when it comes to their relationship development. I'm looking forward to reading book 2 to see how things progress!
The questionable:
Velasin, one of our main characters, is raped in chapter 2. A lot of this book is also about his response to that and how he works to move forward. It's graphic, on page, and it was a bit shocking to happen so early into the book. The author did provide content warnings at the beginning of the book and I would highly take those into consideration before anyone were to read this book.
It took me some time to get used to the writing. For the first 60% or so of the book I found myself having to go back and reread paragraphs because I felt like I missed something. Either I got used to the writing style in the later half or the author found a better groove. Likewise, some explanations came across as a bit heavy handed concerning the investigation into the murders and other happenings. I would have been interested in more 'show' than 'tell' because it felt like a bit of a lecture at times.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
firesolstice'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
4.75
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault