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squinnittowinit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Beautiful fantasy world based on ancient Persia. Story feels like a classic fairytale in the format of a novel, almost Romantic in style. Good character development from the main character, satisfying ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Body horror, War, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide, Stalking, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
emilyhkx's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
thank god that’s over.
on the whole, it wasn’t entirely awful and towards the end, the plot made more sense. but it was an absolute slog to get through and i will never pick up this book again, i’m so sorry.
soraya, the protagonist annoyed me to no end. i’m all for a good bad decision, but she just consistently made several bad decisions even when it would mean the potential death of her own family / potential friends (which she consciously considered and STILL made the decisions). her character arc is, i suppose, a little well fleshed out, but for a good 80% of this, she was absolutely insufferable to me.
not sure how i feel about the fact that soraya was implied to once be in love with her brother’s wife but the last line to her is “i’m so glad we’re sisters.”
forbidden touch trope, i have previously adored. in this? no. for one reason - she falls for someone the moment they touch her (after she’s no longer poisonous) and the weird love triangle between her, parvaneh and azad? no. azad was so clearly AWFUL, i don’t know why she entertained him at all (other than the threats on her family, because that just about deterred her)
also, the “plot twists”? barely any were executed properly. i think maybe two took me by surprise? everything was so predictable and underwhelming.
parvaneh, however, is responsible for a boost in star rating, my girl is an icon. glad she ended up with soraya but girl, you could do better.
what, genuinely, was the point of having soraya have thorns in her skin at the end? i do not understand. cool, whatever, but why?
(admittedly makes for a circular character arc but i just do not get it.)
and there’s certain parts of her skin that don’t have thorns on (e.g. neck and part of her hands) so she can be touched? hmm, real convenient that.
last chapter was cute, i’ll admit but other than that, i am so happy this book is over.
on the whole, it wasn’t entirely awful and towards the end, the plot made more sense. but it was an absolute slog to get through and i will never pick up this book again, i’m so sorry.
soraya, the protagonist annoyed me to no end. i’m all for a good bad decision, but she just consistently made several bad decisions even when it would mean the potential death of her own family / potential friends (which she consciously considered and STILL made the decisions). her character arc is, i suppose, a little well fleshed out, but for a good 80% of this, she was absolutely insufferable to me.
not sure how i feel about the fact that soraya was implied to once be in love with her brother’s wife but the last line to her is “i’m so glad we’re sisters.”
forbidden touch trope, i have previously adored. in this? no. for one reason - she falls for someone the moment they touch her (after she’s no longer poisonous) and the weird love triangle between her, parvaneh and azad? no. azad was so clearly AWFUL, i don’t know why she entertained him at all (other than the threats on her family, because that just about deterred her)
also, the “plot twists”? barely any were executed properly. i think maybe two took me by surprise? everything was so predictable and underwhelming.
parvaneh, however, is responsible for a boost in star rating, my girl is an icon. glad she ended up with soraya but girl, you could do better.
what, genuinely, was the point of having soraya have thorns in her skin at the end? i do not understand. cool, whatever, but why?
(admittedly makes for a circular character arc but i just do not get it.)
and there’s certain parts of her skin that don’t have thorns on (e.g. neck and part of her hands) so she can be touched? hmm, real convenient that.
last chapter was cute, i’ll admit but other than that, i am so happy this book is over.
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
electrumempousa's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.0
I think this was such a strong concept that lost its way out of the gate and ended in a way that felt quite ham fisted. Despite being quite long I don’t feel like we got to connect with many of the characters. I enjoyed the twisted fairytale vibes though.
Forgot to mention that the author perfectly captured how it feels to be in England in January:
She had never realized how easily hope died when there was no sunlight, how hard it was to believe that another day was worth fighting for when there was only night.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
ghostsversion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Phew I am on a roll baby. Anyways this was so great!!! I mean sure Soraya did a few things that might be stupid in hindsight but I mean she was very sheltered throughout her life so I understand. The subtle enemies to lovers with Parvaneh was simply <3<3. Also the way Azad was so manipulate even I was bamboozled. But maybe that’s the bloodlust talking idk Finally I have to say that I loved the fact that Soraya got her powers back towards the end. Just when I was thinking Oh her powers sure weren’t developed the author was like BAM Honestly I’m glad I finally got around to reading this. Very much worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Animal death, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, War, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
infjkiki's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, Violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Toxic relationship
bzliz's review
adventurous
dark
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
This was a new type of demonology for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Influenced by the Middle East- both ancient and modern- we follow the cursed princess Soraya who is doomed to kill anyone she touches as she discovers not everyone and everything is how it seems.
Some of the twists are easily predicted but I didn’t feel cheated in figuring them out. In fact, I felt they were justified because Melissa Bashardoust did an exceptional job of capturing our heroine’s choices throughout her evolution.
Some of the twists are easily predicted but I didn’t feel cheated in figuring them out. In fact, I felt they were justified because Melissa Bashardoust did an exceptional job of capturing our heroine’s choices throughout her evolution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Kidnapping
veerau's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? Yes
4.0
A very interesting read! It was surprising to see a book focused on persian mythology, unexpected but absolutely loved!
The setting was beautiful, and after reading the extra info at the end of the book the characters become even more interesting...
One thing I was so glad about was the ending, so very glad that Soraya found how to coexist with her unusual powers instead of blindly getting rid of them, perhaps becoming what she feared? But in a good way
Oh and the cover is beautiful, one of the prettiest books on my shelf now hehe (that wasn't a chore to read as well!)
The setting was beautiful, and after reading the extra info at the end of the book the characters become even more interesting...
Oh and the cover is beautiful, one of the prettiest books on my shelf now hehe (that wasn't a chore to read as well!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
kaitlyng's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
lennie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore