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lorraine19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Bullying, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Animal death, Child death, War, Death of parent, Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Abandonment, and Death
adventuresinmytbr'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: Grief, Death, Bullying, War, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Death of parent
cs172'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: Chronic illness, Violence, and War
Moderate: Classism, Cursing, Blood, and Death
Minor: Death, Abandonment, Ableism, Death of parent, and Gore
britwalsh16'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: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Bullying, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Abandonment and Torture
relin's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Outing, Gore, Ableism, and Abandonment
pbuzzard's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, Ableism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
sugar_fox'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
4.75
And yet, I found this book positively entertaining and brilliant, wonderfully so. The idea felt fresh despite being a trope I’m sure has been used many times before. I adore the characters within this.
Violet was a strong female character, but not to the level of being a Mary Sue. She’s the perfect level of strength, but having vulnerabilities (and not being fucking emotionless) and imperfections. She has to earn her skill, she doesn’t come into the academy knowing it all.
Xaden was introduced to us as the cold but cool love interest, and from the get-go I was all for that. From his first meeting with Violet in the woods, we see a man fatally loyal to others like him, that actually cares about things (again, not fucking emotionless) and has imperfections and faults of his own. I was expecting the classic ‘bad boy’ trope with Xaden and was pleasantly impressed that the author didn’t go down that route.
As for their relationship, I loved it. I was already biased given I love the romance trope, but this book made me believe in their chemistry. Not through defining the trope, and telling me, but showing me. It seemed like a natural progression from enemies to lovers, and the things they’d argue over wasn’t foolish or fickle unlike other books tend to make arguments between the main couple feel. They had their own grievances and character arcs outside of each other and I loved that.
Now for Dain. I fucking hate dain. I’m not talking about any other side characters (and I mean that as an insult towards dain), but I just had to mention my absolute loathing of this character. And I do not mean this in fault of the author, no, she wrote this exactly as she meant to to evoke these feelings. His character was almost too real. The overprotective smothering ‘friend’ who totally doesn’t want anything more than friendship. The way at every turn, he’d try to prove Violet incapable of making decisions. I almost wanted Violet to
I loved the way the background characters were written as well. They each had their own little arc and moments throughout the story, making them feel more realistic and like actual people would behave. They weren’t just chess pieces to move around in a game, they were the chess masters each with their own agenda and goals in mind. There was no clear 2 sides that people chose, it was a free-for-all.
As for the writing. This book is not complexly written. It does not take the mental mind of Albert Einstein to decode what the authors conveying. despite that, the scenes can be imagined clearly, and the events make excellent sense. I really do like the writing, as can be seen from the time period in which I finished the book (less than 2 days lol). The dialogue was golden and humour was used appropriately. These actually sounded like 20 year old kids in a perilous situation, but still having fun.
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone thinking about picking it up. And whilst you begin reading this masterpiece, I’ll start hoping that I can buy the next book for myself by Christmas.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Cursing, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment
kimveach'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: Drug use, Dysphoria, Vomit, War, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
prairieraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Ableism, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Violence, Police brutality, Genocide, Stalking, Sexual content, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny