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gardens_and_dragons's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think i would have liked this a bit more if I was more invested in the politics behind the scenes. It felt like it wanted to say more about the context in which these two women were in, but it was really only discussed in the last quarter of the book. Overall though, I liked the magic, the enemies to lovers trope, and strong female characters. The banter with the main characters, and the prince and the side characters was great.
I think that for a younger audience, this could be definitely a 5 star.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia
Minor: War
jes7037'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
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Animal cruelty
gbrds762's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death, Cannibalism, and Colonisation
wardenred's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
No matter how dark the night, a new day always dawned. The sun never, ever failed to rise.
Such an exciting wintry read! I absolutely loved the Polish-coded setting, the clear fictionalized ties to real historical events, and all the cultural details about the festivities, the food, the clothes—everything. All the descriptions were so engrossing and vivid, and I really felt transported into the story. I also really liked all the monstrous witchcraft lore that made this book the perfect scary fairytale for the dark part of the year.
Marinka quickly became my favorite character with her fiery competitiveness and strong spirit. I kind of expected to like Zosia more because her arc/inner conflict sounded like something I usually find quite interesting. Somehow though, while I didn't mind her and liked her dynamic with Marinka, her personality didn't particularly endear her to me, although she kept growing on me more and more as the story went on. I absolutely loved Beata and her friendship with Marinka. And that secondary romance with my absolute favorite flavor of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers dynamic? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. My favorite aspect of the book, really. Those two are going to live in my head rent-free for a long time.
There were some pacing issues in the first half of the story, and then some of the events in the second half felt rushed, which is the one reason this isn't a full five-star read for me. Otherwise, this is a great tale of chaotic villainous queers, and exactly the wintry read I needed.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: War
hannahs_library_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Death and Physical abuse
brynn_books's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
pey333'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
4.5
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, War, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol and Animal cruelty
thecourtofreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, and War
lahariel'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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Child death
nobeliumreads's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Suicide, and War