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bluebreex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
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
3.5
A promising start to the series! It was an easy and quirky read - would recommend to anyone who is a fan of fantasy, dungeons & dragons, alchemy systems or faerie court systems.
While the pop culture references did feel a bit over done at times, I still found the dialogue humorous and quickly fell in love with the characters. I do think the shining quality of this series so far is the court system as well as the lore regarding magic and alchemy.
The one draw back for me is that, while I do not believe it was intentional, it is hard to include goblins while following how they are described and characterised in other popular media without them coming across as antisemitic. I do hope this will be avoided in future books.
While the pop culture references did feel a bit over done at times, I still found the dialogue humorous and quickly fell in love with the characters. I do think the shining quality of this series so far is the court system as well as the lore regarding magic and alchemy.
The one draw back for me is that, while I do not believe it was intentional, it is hard to include goblins while following how they are described and characterised in other popular media without them coming across as antisemitic. I do hope this will be avoided in future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Antisemitism
lqvekanej's review
adventurous
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
marleywrites's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-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
Nobody asked me to do this but here’s a list of the main characters and the songs from Taylor Swift’s Midnights album that remind me of them:
Nausicaä - Anti-hero
Arlo - Snow on the beach (ft. Lana del Rey)
Aurelian - You’re On Your Own, Kid
Vehan - Maroon
Now onto the review:
After finishing A Dark and Hollow Star, I immediately ordered the next in the series, A Cruel and Fated Light. My favorite things about this book were A) the character development and B) the world building. Both were teased out so precisely and delicately and I found myself completely enjoying just vibing out with the characters as they had their little moments with each other (I’m partial to Nausicaä’s banter with Arlo). It felt like each moment held significant weight that added to the story.
The world building is slow paced, and the four main characters don’t meet until over halfway through the book, but it just makes sense as you read through it. So to the reviews saying they DNF, etc, they really missed a beautifully written story with lots of humor and quirky character moments. I really enjoyed this about the book, so for me it definitely worked. If you’re looking for a high intensity, action packed book, this isn’t the book for you. There are little pockets of those things throughout the story but overall I did find the pacing slow, yet enjoyable.
Some tropes/things this book features:
-slow burn f/f romance beginnings
-m/m friends to ??? enemies but wanna be lovers???
-lots of laughs
-sarcasm
-grumpy/sunshine
-kick ass fight scenes
-great descriptions of internal thoughts
-excellent setting descriptions
I rated this a 4.5 out of 5. The .5 that was missing for me was that I wanted to see more in the m/m relationship teased out in book 1, so I have high expectations for book 2!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, and Racism
jama_vata's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Confinement
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, and Mental illness
miabellawymer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
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