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huntress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Chronic illness, War, Terminal illness, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Slavery, Grief, Genocide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cannibalism
horriblehorrid'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: Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
nevdite284'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
Graphic: War, Chronic illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Violence, and Gore
_teoeo'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
It took me so freaking long to finish this!! Also, it was the wrong decision to read the book in English instead of my native language because ngl there was a lot that I didn't understand (even though 90% of the books I read are in English). The final fight was too long for my liking, but all in all it was a good book. I enjoyed it (at least the parts I understood :')) and already bought the second book. Also, I really liked gideon
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying
Moderate: Child death and Abandonment
feelingfrazzled'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
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Bullying, Murder, Body horror, and Gore
i swear those content warnings are INTENSE but also,,, super not,,,, but also….!harrow_nova'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
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse
Minor: Confinement
tigerproofrock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
bookishchef'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
3.75
The worldbuilding isn't great. I'm sorry, but it's true. New questions kept popping into my mind while reading this book, and almost none of them got a complete answer.
Who is the Empire fighting a war against?
No idea.
Why is the Empire at war?
No idea.
How did the Empire come into existence?
No idea.
What are the main differences between each planet/each house?
No idea (except their powers seem to differ a bit and the Ninth has a different religion).
Why do the characters know so little about the other houses?
No idea.
How will the Houses function when the heir apparent dies or when a House bloodline comes to an end?
No idea.
How is this Empire so adept at space travel when they do not have internet, satellites, or even engineers (not in the Ninth anyway)?
No idea.
And so on.
All of this did bother me throughout the story and I had to consciously decide to ignore it.
Luckily, the characters kind of make up for it. All the characters, even the side characters, have their own distinct personalities. This story has over 16 characters to keep track of and they all feel different and unique.
I'd argue that the Second House gets the least developed personalities, but I still know exactly what they're about.
This book is also very funny. Gideon is hilarious and her repertoire with Harrowhark is very entertaining. For me, it never got old.
There's some very entertaining plottwists too. I saw some of them coming, but not all of them and that kept me reading on. I was genuinely invested in the mysteries. Shame we don't get an answer to some of them.
So yeah, I liked it, but I don't really get the enormous hype surrounding it. The book definitely has flaws even if it can be very entertaining.
I hated the ending. It didn't feel earned to me.
Also not sure if the space setting added anything. This could have been a normal Empire consisting of several countries or continents and I don't think it would have changed the story at all. If anything, it would have answered some of my worldbuilding questions.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, and Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Gore
Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and War
ritte_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Critique:
Personally, I wasn't too fond of the narrator voice, too snarky for my taste and keeping track of all the characters and titles might have been easier if their given names were used more frequently to describe them.
I'm not sure yet what to make of the other main character, Harrow, but I'm sure I'll find out in the next book.
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Slavery
hannahsmanyhobbies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Torture, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail