Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - In The Ravenous Dark

This book was something of an odd duck. The world building started off fascinating, and then I thought it lagged and also got bizarre. The first two thirds were dark and depressing, and the last third was much more upbeat

(in a murdery spree kind of a way)

and absolutely bonkers. I spent the last third delightedly going

“OH she’s going a-murdering - OH SHE’S TURNED HERSELF INTO A VAMPIRE - HOLY SHIT THEY’RE ALL A MERRY UNDEAD POLYCULE!!!

, it was truly a wild ride.

I thought the book really missed a trick in not actually engaging with the exploitative scenario it had set up, where Bloodmages are forced to bond to spirits and (as it turns out)

end up getting fed off to sustain the undeath of those spirits, and also that almost everyone who dies in the city either gets eaten by one of these spirits or trapped in a ghastly underworld (long story)

, and instead of really wrestling with that or with Bloodmages oppressing other Bloodmages and perpetuating these abuses, the book boils it down to

this system has been set up by two evil undead kings and they’ve been wrecking everyone’s lives ever since, and things can be fixed by killing them

which I found sort of disappointing as an ending. It was all very exciting and I enjoyed Rovan and co really getting to flip their shit and destroy stuff, but I felt like it left a lot of more interesting questions and consequences completely ignored.

I did love the queerness of it all, and I adored Japha, and loved that all of the main characters were queer

and also the ending for them, personally

. But I did find it overall a little unsatisfying, and I was left with a lot of “but what about - “ and also I think I sympathized with the semi-antagonists

(not the evil undead kings, but the various Skylleans, and the other Bloodmages

a lot more than the book wanted me too. I also didn’t find Ivrilos either compelling or enticing as a love interest, and him becoming all lovey dovey in the last quarter or so made me significantly less interested in his character. Ivrilos the revenge driven asshole kind of worked for me, but that sort of got completely left by the wayside.

Definitely a curate’s egg of a book!

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allylujah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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merenguita's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

It's a really good book but you have to take into acount it's limitations, because it's a stand-alone fantasy it doesn't have the time to fully develop all of the plot points, this also reflects in the love triangle, one of the sides being a lot more intreting in my opinion.
Even though the world building has it's flaws it is generaly very enticing and it paints a really good picture of what's possible in this world.
The set up of the conflict is a bit too fast for my taste when it comes to the conflict it self and it's resolution i think it gets a lot better with the pacing.
In general there is some really good representation and that's very gratly appreciated

The ending was a little bit disappointing because of way too many fake-death scenes, it lost a little bit of it's impact

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radiosilent8's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-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

4.75

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maple_dove's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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tazrean's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

really loved the polyamory and pan rep, frustrated with main character

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izzybeereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Overall, I really enjoyed this back! I loved following the main character, the various LGBTQA+ representation, the world, the magic, everything! My only gripe, and why I ultimately gave it 4 stars, was the pacing. From my understanding, this is a standalone! I actually think it would have greatly benefited from being at least a duology. A lot of the plot, character development, and relationships felt unnaturally rushed to me. I would have really loved had the book slowed down and went further in depth! Despite that, still a wonderful and entertaining read!

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libraryofdoe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

A queer-normative dark fantasy with an intricate magic system and political intrigue. What can I say without gushing? Nothing. A new all time favourite has emerged and it’s here to stay.

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