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brittbabbles's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this book, but it started so slow. There were several triggers right up front that made it hard to get through and really didn't add to the story. The world was unique, and the magic was interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Racial slurs and Rape
lnmac13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Miscarriage and Rape
mylibrarycardworeout's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I really enjoyed the premise and the idea of this book. It was unique and it had a lot to give, keeping me interested and reading. But I felt that it was incredibly long. My copy was 660 pages which I felt was just unnecessarily long. There were a lot of time jumps to fill in gaps - gaps that have could have been filled in other ways. And some of the time jumps just felt like they weren't entirely necessary to be as long as they were. It was a lot of rehashing the same thing over and over - giving the different POVs of the same situation. But it wasn't so long and dragging that it didn't keep my interested. But I did feel that easily 200 pages could have been cut off this book.
As for the story itself, it was interesting and I felt that it was unique. It was a dark book, with quite a lot of violence scenes, so something to keep in mind. But the story itself, the premise of it all and all of it was interesting.
Character development was kind of simple and I felt that sometimes the characters weren't realistic. Marlow who was one of the main character was supposed to be 8 in this book and he was very advanced for his age I felt. And then there were moments that I was kind of confused who the main character was as it kept jumping between all the characters.
Overall it was interesting, and I believe there will be a second book. I am torn on reading the second book because this one overall did end kind of neatly but, depending on how long the next one is, I may give it a go just to have that one part of the story that is left unfinished finished.
As for the story itself, it was interesting and I felt that it was unique. It was a dark book, with quite a lot of violence scenes, so something to keep in mind. But the story itself, the premise of it all and all of it was interesting.
Character development was kind of simple and I felt that sometimes the characters weren't realistic. Marlow who was one of the main character was supposed to be 8 in this book and he was very advanced for his age I felt. And then there were moments that I was kind of confused who the main character was as it kept jumping between all the characters.
Overall it was interesting, and I believe there will be a second book. I am torn on reading the second book because this one overall did end kind of neatly but, depending on how long the next one is, I may give it a go just to have that one part of the story that is left unfinished finished.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
quintessenceofdust's review
200+ pages in and while things have happened, the movement of the story is still really slow. A lot of repetitive and honestly quite disturbing violence/gore that doesn’t make me want to continue reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
its_eel's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
I got stuck reading this about halfway through. The book started really strong and was leaning towards being fast-paced until the second main part. I can’t tell if my reading was a bit off this month or it was the book, but once I got about halfway through the book, I flew through it. This book almost made 5 stars, but given that I put it down for a good several days, that goes to 4 stars for me.
The urban environment was a full on character in this novel. I loved the atmosphere of Victorian London and the world building was really excellent in this. I could fully envision each of the many settings in this novel. There was a surprising amount of well-roundedness and depth to all of the characters, and given how many there were, I’m impressed that no character felt superfluous.
I definitely felt like some of the dialogue lines and settings were little easter eggs from other fantasy classics, ie Lord of the Rings, The Earthsea Chronicles, etc.
It may be awhile until I pick up the second book, but I definitely am hooked on this cast of characters and seeing how the story progresses in the next one!
The urban environment was a full on character in this novel. I loved the atmosphere of Victorian London and the world building was really excellent in this. I could fully envision each of the many settings in this novel. There was a surprising amount of well-roundedness and depth to all of the characters, and given how many there were, I’m impressed that no character felt superfluous.
I definitely felt like some of the dialogue lines and settings were little easter eggs from other fantasy classics, ie Lord of the Rings, The Earthsea Chronicles, etc.
It may be awhile until I pick up the second book, but I definitely am hooked on this cast of characters and seeing how the story progresses in the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
stormeno's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Death of parent
bellabern's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
colorwired's review
This book has an interesting premise but it moves so slowly that I found myself questioning whether I really liked it or not.
I was also very thrown off by The Boy That Lived trope that becomes glaringly present in the first quarter.
There are definitely parts that are dark and scary, but I somehow felt confined even though the story skips around the globe.
I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t want to do the work to plug through everything to get to the point.
I was very disappointed because I was initially very excited about this book.
I was also very thrown off by The Boy That Lived trope that becomes glaringly present in the first quarter.
There are definitely parts that are dark and scary, but I somehow felt confined even though the story skips around the globe.
I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t want to do the work to plug through everything to get to the point.
I was very disappointed because I was initially very excited about this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Trafficking
callistag1's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
This is one of those books that had potential, had intrigue, and even had a compelling start, but it failed to keep that engagement throughout the book and quickly turned into a snooze fest where I was just wanting to get done with this book.
So, for the good part: The beginning was very good at getting you hooked... for a while. The settings and events that revolve around the introduced characters have a great set up, especially for Marlowe (and Eliza), Alice, and Charlie. Their meetings and the events they go through with learning about the two boys' powers and what the mysterious shadow man they are running from, with the help of Alice, to get to an institute that is meant to protect them and help them harness/control their powers gets you hooked.
But after that, the story goes downhill from there. I think it has to do with Alice being split up from the boys, but also there were a lot of things that just made this book feels flat. None of the other characters interested me much besides Jacob and Brynt. Despite how annoyingly long this book was, it felt like the characters got no development and we just saw them on a surface level because we were "told" more than "shown."
Speaking of how long this book was, at least a good 100 pages could have been lopped off, possibly more, because so much of it felt unnecessary. I say this because I remember so little of this book and I just finished reading it. Things felt repetitive at times to the point I just started skimming it, and it felt like everything from the beginning of the book was a waste of a start for a book that became so very boring.
Also, you can definitely tell this book is written by a man because practically every woman who is around Marlowe is hit with sudden 'maternal instincts,' which isn't how that works. And you also know this was written by a man because Eliza, a "minor" character who helped raise Marlowe, is shown to have deep maternal love for him and care, but when she has a miscarriage of her own baby, the book quite literally says, "And that was that."
I understand Eliza's baby wasn't conceived out of love, but for a character that cares for Marlowe the way she did to have no reaction at all from miscarrying is odd. Even if she didn't mourn the child she lost, you would think she could have had a negative response as this pain would have reminded her of the sexual trauma she went through. But that was just glossed over.
Also Alice's feelings weren't really looked at besides skimming he surface. She learns her mother, who was obviously mentally unwell and had been in an alyssum that she never visited, had been dead for seven years because no one contacted her when it happened. And she has barely any reaction. I wasn't expecting her to burst into tears, but this just felt like these things were more to shock the audience that do anything in terms of the character's response and lives.
Just want to say, if you do decide to read this book, I'd say read a physical or digital copy if you can and not listen to the audiobook. I was doing both, but I mostly read it because the audiobook was not for me. I didn't care for the narrator personality. Some of the accents he did were too thick, as if he was trying to hard, and it made it hard to understand what he was saying.
I don't think I'll be continuing this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Hate crime
anns_storybound_sanctuary's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
I love this book. Another 5/5 this year.
What impressed me the most was the story telling, the world building, the characters and how the author achieved it to give every character their own voice. The diction, punctuation and grammar is different for every character which gives them even more depth.
The prose is also just gorgeous. The way J. M. Mirow describes each scene, setting the mood before diving into the action. This for me makes the storytelling even more immersive
The story itself is set mostly in Vicotrian England, at the end of the 17th century. This gives this book a dark academia feeling even though half of the cast of characters is under the age of 18. The story is written in a lot of different POVs which contribute to the immersion.
I wouldn't rate this book as a YA novel as which it was marketed here. There is a lot of violence and loss in this book. Which I as an adult reader appreciated but is not fit for children.
What impressed me the most was the story telling, the world building, the characters and how the author achieved it to give every character their own voice. The diction, punctuation and grammar is different for every character which gives them even more depth.
The prose is also just gorgeous. The way J. M. Mirow describes each scene, setting the mood before diving into the action. This for me makes the storytelling even more immersive
The story itself is set mostly in Vicotrian England, at the end of the 17th century. This gives this book a dark academia feeling even though half of the cast of characters is under the age of 18. The story is written in a lot of different POVs which contribute to the immersion.
I wouldn't rate this book as a YA novel as which it was marketed here. There is a lot of violence and loss in this book. Which I as an adult reader appreciated but is not fit for children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Torture, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, and Death of parent