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ianreadsbookssometimes'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: War, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Dementia
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault
pri_lakshmi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Grief, Death, Violence, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Dementia, Stalking, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs
lonelylooper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Addiction, Grief, Murder, Death, Gore, Gun violence, War, Drug use, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Racism
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, Misogyny, and Homophobia
trauty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved this book so much and its a crime i didn't get to it sooner considering its been on my shelf for a GOOD while.
Overall I loved this book but the, idk if you'd call it pacing? But the transition between time threw me off a bit.
The general likes without spoilers would be;
•Focus on family and platonic relationships. Showed not just 'good' but how it can be complicated.
• Power/magic system. Has a 'this power will cause issues as time goes on' and 'using it can cause issues in general' concept + actually showcases those things and not JUST saying it.
• The Mountain Pillar. Give me a badass, cunning female antag. I hope we get to see her a bit more as we go on.
• Old vs Young concept. I liked how it dealt with a case of 'older gen who fought in a war to get where they are now' vs 'younger gen who are working in the way things are NOW' and how it clashed a bit.
• Very political, loved how the 'magic' system tied in with this.
• Action scenes, easy to read and visualise.
Anything past will be discussion on the book and somewhat spoilery!
Family aspect —
So this is 100% my favourite thing about this book. You follow the 'No Peak' clan and 4 of its members - Lan, Hilo, Shae, and Anden. Anden is an adoptive child of the family who's mother went mad (this plays a part later), and the other 3 are the grandchildren of the former Pillar/leader of the clan - Lan being the new pillar, Hilo the Horn (in command of the fighting and such), and Shae leaves the family for a foreign nation because of stuff that happened and how she viewed greenbone culture - however comes back hence why she is in the book lol. Pretty noticeable that the one who leaves is the girl so you can take a guess why she left given the lil TW mentions.
I really felt through this book that you could feel these relationships. They felt very realistic and imperfect. You get the siblings and then you get a bit of the sibling with their grandfather - and as i mention in the caption, there's a theme of old gen vs New gen so y'know.
Each sibling is very different and feels like their own character and their response to the other siblings feels realistic. Lan is the older more responsible sibling who is involved in the political side as Pillar. Hilo is the more 'fuck the rules' sort of character and is more prone to thinking with his fists first - however you can really tell he cares for the greenbones he commands and you can tell the mutual respect when we get his scenes. Shae is the more studious smart sibling who would have become Lan's 'lantern man' which is like... second in command? Info-gathering? Sort of role. However as a woman, she is very aware of the issues within their society.
i really liked Shae and Hilo specifically because you get alot from Shae that she was the 'no.1 in their class' and Hilo was the one getting suspended - however she also realises that thats worked to Hilo's advantage and to her detriment.
She talks about how Hilo was more fun and chaotic and as a result he made more friends and respect with the people who would later become his underlings / fingers (soldiers). Shae on the other hand really isolated herself from everyone and how following the rules 100% and being the top of everything in terms of studying doesn't really mean shit at the end of the day if theres not that balance of friendship. And with there being such a gender difference- its also lead to her having no female relationships. (Which i feel will be something worked on later down the line with Wen. Hopefully.
I like how you get 3 -4 different POV's so you can really get to know each character and their inner thoughts. Especially given when one character dies. And the second half of the book is really focused on the fallout of that which you see through the different povs.
Power system —
Ok this is a pretty basic one - but one of my pet peeves in books and animanga is when you get introduced to a power system and its like 'oh but this power is dangerous' 'this power can xyz' and you never see it - and if you do its like 'oopsie fixed'. Like no if you say this will do x - crank up the angst and do it. DDont 'oh but this character is just soooo perfect that they overcame it so amazing' 👁👄👁
Female antag —
Smilar to the power issue - one of my pet peeves is when you have a supposedly smart antag who suddenly looses every brain cell when the protag needs them to. Especially with female antags.
The one dislike —
Ok I'm going to try and explain this without specific spoilers but idk how well it can go.
There is a scene where a character is in a life or death fight. The fight happens, whatever.
next chap they are in the hospital.
chap after that they are in an event.
It just felt like it moved very quick. And theres another example of like when the big death happened. The character is alone, dies. Next chap 'x is dead' immediately into a slaughter, then the funeral, then carries on as normal. Well not normal bca they're in a clan war - but it goes back to the more mundane / political side. There's not really as much action as i had expected in comparison to the political side. Theres also a lot of action in the background? Like you get to a chap and one of the fingers/fists are like 'we lost x property' 'x fist has died'.
And i'm not saying its a big issue- i'm just saying that it kept throwing me off a little. Bcs the death thing happens so sudden that i was more 'oh. Ok. So that just happened'. I was interested in what that could entail - but emotion wise u was just 'oh...k'. On reread i could definitely see this being less of an issue. And i do plan to put this on my reread radar bcs i did love it. Clearly.
This issue is also one of those however that if i'm in the right mind space it doesn't matter to me. Bcs i do like how character/political focused it was. But some days i had to put it down bcs i wanted a bit more action and just wasn't in the mood for... talking. But also i've just come out of a reading slump so that may have effected my enjoyment of certain aspects too y'know.
Graphic: Addiction
Minor: Sexual assault
kathyy's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
heather667'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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, War, Addiction, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Sexism, Death of parent, Dementia, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
There is a lot to follow in this book and I worried about losing track of the many characters or their importance to the story. Sometimes, there are full chapters that are told from the perspective of a side character. Initially, I was confused by this. Why would there be a heavy focus on such random, seemingly unimportant people? But I'm glad I didn't give up on trying to understand what was happening. Every single chapter makes a difference. Every single character furthers the story, no matter how small their role is.
I'm currently under the assumption that the only reason I don't fully understand the jade magic is because this was only the first book and it's meant to come into play later on. However, I would have liked just a little more explanation of that and even the way the shine drug affected those who used it. There were moments that helped me understand bits and pieces, but certain deaths left me reeling because I had no clue what the true cause was.
The political intrigue was what, shockingly, kept my attention the most. I was fascinated by the gang war and what was happening on either side to induce further violence and panic. The ranks of the Green Bones was also really interesting to me and the almost "heirarchy" within each group was equally intriguing. I even enjoyed the chapters with the lore behind the Green Bones and why certain people fell into certain roles - even down to how they approached death or destruction.
While I definitely believe this is the kind of book to read only when you're in the mood for a "thinker," I highly recommend it. I greatly look forward to seeing what comes next!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
jakepasseri'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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Self harm, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, Dementia, Death of parent, Gore, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Homophobia
zarap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
maryjames'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Murder, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Drug use
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexism