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mlcutter's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Solid 5 stars. When Mia Corvere loses her father in an uprising to overthrow the corrupt government, she decides to join the Our Mother of Blessed Murder order of assassins to become a Blade (the best of the best). This book is all about her training and decisions that she has to make to become strong and skilled enough to avenge her father's murder. The descriptions in this novel are amazing and thr characters are incredibly well-formed. It was recommended to me that I read this book as an aspiring fantasy writer and it did not disappoint. Word of warning, even though Mia is 16, this is NOT a YA novel! No surprise, there is death and its graphic, and there is also a love connection and it is somewhat graphic. But I still believe this is essential for anyone who wants to write fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Violence, Gore, Child death, Grief, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, and Torture
dragonaion's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
USA said it well,
"Harry Potter meets The Lies of Locke Lamora."
And from my 5 star review of The Lies of Locke Lamora, I say that Nevernight is absolutely a story-sibling to Lynch's work while standing on its own and is a fantastic read. I devoured half the book in a day and am already shouting at Amazon to "take my money!" for the sequels.
For those who haven't read Lynch's book (which you should, if you enjoy Nevernight), this is a story of the brotherhood (and sisterhood!) of thieves, love in the dark, knowing what the dark is, and how to walk in Her shadow. Not for the faint of heart, this is a brilliant magical fantasy that will remind you of The Elder Scroll's Night Mother and Daedric Prince Nocturnal with every word. It is brilliant, emotional, tangible, and had me almost crying at a few spots.
For those who haven't read Lynch's book (which you should, if you enjoy Nevernight), this is a story of the brotherhood (and sisterhood!) of thieves, love in the dark, knowing what the dark is, and how to walk in Her shadow. Not for the faint of heart, this is a brilliant magical fantasy that will remind you of The Elder Scroll's Night Mother and Daedric Prince Nocturnal with every word. It is brilliant, emotional, tangible, and had me almost crying at a few spots.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, Sexual content, Violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child abuse and Slavery
Minor: Sexual assault, Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
nik_a's review against another edition
1 ⭐
це було просто жахливо!
+ єдине, що сподобалось, це ілюстрації українського видання
- просто жахливий переклад! дуже багато граматичних помилок. перекладач наліпила купу маловживаних слів, навіщо?! речення побудовані таким чином, що важко читати
- автор смакує моменти поранень, а все інше описувати для нього немає сенсу. опис битви був зовсім не цікавим. деякі моменти просто випадають з сюжету
- жарти про місячні. одразу видно, що писав чоловік
- дуже багато недоречного мату. навіщо?!
- зноски які іноді займали по пів сторінки і відволікали від сюжету. спочатку ідея здалась цікавою, але вийшла якась маячня, яка відволікали від сюжету. про світ нічого не дізнаєшся, лише дратуєшся та гаїш час
- не цікаві герої
а для кого ця книжка? купа мату, "жарти" нижче пояса, смакування "крові", примітивний розвиток сюжету... для юних маньяків?!
це було просто жахливо!
+ єдине, що сподобалось, це ілюстрації українського видання
- просто жахливий переклад! дуже багато граматичних помилок. перекладач наліпила купу маловживаних слів, навіщо?! речення побудовані таким чином, що важко читати
- автор смакує моменти поранень, а все інше описувати для нього немає сенсу. опис битви був зовсім не цікавим. деякі моменти просто випадають з сюжету
- жарти про місячні. одразу видно, що писав чоловік
- дуже багато недоречного мату. навіщо?!
- зноски які іноді займали по пів сторінки і відволікали від сюжету. спочатку ідея здалась цікавою, але вийшла якась маячня, яка відволікали від сюжету. про світ нічого не дізнаєшся, лише дратуєшся та гаїш час
- не цікаві герої
а для кого ця книжка? купа мату, "жарти" нижче пояса, смакування "крові", примітивний розвиток сюжету... для юних маньяків?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic relationship
whenjessreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I loved this book, I really did. I was expecting some sort of mild YA dark academia (why did I think this? I do not know) and what I got was a punch in the face of serious fantasy. It was surprising, refreshing, and after the first 100 pages or of set up the pacing was great and the characters intriguing.
The excessive metaphor was something I liked, although occasionally I had to read a phrase over a few times for comprehension.
The footnotes that the author used gave me flashbacks to the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud - adding humour and small infodumps via an unknown narrator. I do find them slightly jarring when trying to read a story smoothly, but if that’s the author’s style, what can you do? 😅
From what I can gather, this book is either loved or hated. The author is Australian - you can tell - and that’s pretty representative of the how the Australian personality is received in general.😅😂 This book was also pretty strong with the male gaze, although it wasn’t enough that it made me stop reading.
The one thing I will point out as being problematic is the author’s representation of Māori ta moko, or facial tattoos. Though Kristoff has said he didn’t intend for people to make that comparison, as someone of Māori heritage (though that should be irrelevant), I felt a bit uncomfortable reading it. I think without this I would have rated a 4 😊
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, Pedophilia, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Child abuse, and Rape
katyfortner's review
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
3.75
It took me a while to really get into this book. It started off really dingy and definitely look at the trigger warnings before reading this because it was triggering right off the bat. I do think the narration was true to what an assassin would probably have to think especially from what the MC had to face and go through at such a young age. I would say that 50% of this book was very lacking but the last half to last third of the book really made up for it. Also, I thought the footnotes were a kind of weird addition the author made.. not really sure how I feel about them, but I am leaning towards not liking them.
I was really gutted that the love interest, Trix got killed off. I knew there had to be a twist coming up but I was really hoping that would not have been the case. Also, I knew something was off about Ash when she kept hinting that Mia should not stay there and when the obvious antagonists kept swearing up and down that they didn't kill Lottie. I knew something was off but I really liked that Mia finally had a girl-friend and was able to connect with someone along with the relationship she started with Trix.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Rape, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Slavery
astoryofpages's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
I found this reading to be quite lengthy, 750 pages in French, with lengths, descriptions of little interest and useless. Still, the author has potential, but there are far too many similes and metaphors that quite often mean nothing (aka the oinking sea). I would have preferred that the information passed more clearly. The footnotes are far too numerous: I didn't read most of them because I was lost in my reading.
Wordbuilding is pretty good, even if we are drowned by pieces of information. They are useless to us since we do not travel in the universe. The atmosphere is actually quite good, very dark (small trigger warning). I just wish Mia's powers were more emphasized, this is one of her peculiarities, and it is not "used" and even left out for much of the story. Some characters were quite good, but I must admit I didn't appreciate the competitiveness between girls while the guys stay aside to watch the show… Big up to Mister Kindly. I loved him! He is very well thought out, original and brilliant! As for the end, I can't find much to say, except maybe "All that fuss for nothing?". We end up with a kind of reversal of the situation that made me a little angry because it concerns a character we only see twice. So whether he is there or not, it does not change the plot. I also find that his end does not stick to the characters. The author gives us specific pictures of his characters, but he does not even respect them.
I hated the hyper-sexualization of Mia and women in general. I didn't like how the author described the female body (which really embarrassed me and made me feel like an object or a curiosity). This femme fatale role could have been well thought out if it had not been glued to a 16-year-old girl. He wrote scenes of s*xual relationships between two children (16 and 17 years old), and I found that very unhealthy. I don't understand what this brings to the story apart from voyeurism and unease. I could also talk for hours about my anger at Mia's body "transformation" scene. She does not give her consent. I did not feel any rebellion on her part. Aalea has a tremendous hold on her to the point of handling her. But a woman does not have to answer the criteria set by men to be beautiful and desirable. Warning, also romanticization of death and suicide through metaphors; some people can be triggered.
Wordbuilding is pretty good, even if we are drowned by pieces of information. They are useless to us since we do not travel in the universe. The atmosphere is actually quite good, very dark (small trigger warning). I just wish Mia's powers were more emphasized, this is one of her peculiarities, and it is not "used" and even left out for much of the story. Some characters were quite good, but I must admit I didn't appreciate the competitiveness between girls while the guys stay aside to watch the show… Big up to Mister Kindly. I loved him! He is very well thought out, original and brilliant! As for the end, I can't find much to say, except maybe "All that fuss for nothing?". We end up with a kind of reversal of the situation that made me a little angry because it concerns a character we only see twice. So whether he is there or not, it does not change the plot. I also find that his end does not stick to the characters. The author gives us specific pictures of his characters, but he does not even respect them.
I hated the hyper-sexualization of Mia and women in general. I didn't like how the author described the female body (which really embarrassed me and made me feel like an object or a curiosity). This femme fatale role could have been well thought out if it had not been glued to a 16-year-old girl. He wrote scenes of s*xual relationships between two children (16 and 17 years old), and I found that very unhealthy. I don't understand what this brings to the story apart from voyeurism and unease. I could also talk for hours about my anger at Mia's body "transformation" scene. She does not give her consent. I did not feel any rebellion on her part. Aalea has a tremendous hold on her to the point of handling her. But a woman does not have to answer the criteria set by men to be beautiful and desirable. Warning, also romanticization of death and suicide through metaphors; some people can be triggered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Cultural appropriation
Plastic surgery (in form of Magic), graphic sex scenes involving painful intercourse, threatened rape (several)tanzanitedragoness's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
The fact that this is a comfort read probably says something about me, but it is. It’s dark, and twisted, and heart wrenching, and oddly soothing if only because it’s 9meone else’s bullshit and not my own. It’s got a fair bit of dark humour, and I quite love the narrator.
The footnotes, which many other reviews seem to take issue with, seem entirely appropriate. After all, you would not describe how days and nights work if setting a book on earth, nor explain what Asia is. However you might mention these if you were translating a copy of that same story for distribution on another world, which is what these footnotes indicate is the case.
The narrative tone is decidedly poetic, snarky, and crass. The narrator is a bit pretentious and it’s entertaining to snark them back in the margins, they deserve it utterly. I rather like them. I still half think it’s the not-cat. Edit: four pages into the second and it’s either the cat or the librarian.
Now on to the second book, because appearently I’m spending the evening reading half a dozen gut wrenchers despite sanity trying to intervene.
The footnotes, which many other reviews seem to take issue with, seem entirely appropriate. After all, you would not describe how days and nights work if setting a book on earth, nor explain what Asia is. However you might mention these if you were translating a copy of that same story for distribution on another world, which is what these footnotes indicate is the case.
The narrative tone is decidedly poetic, snarky, and crass. The narrator is a bit pretentious and it’s entertaining to snark them back in the margins, they deserve it utterly. I rather like them. I still half think it’s the not-cat. Edit: four pages into the second and it’s either the cat or the librarian.
Now on to the second book, because appearently I’m spending the evening reading half a dozen gut wrenchers despite sanity trying to intervene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Rape
aliseanna's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Cursing
Minor: Child abuse
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