Scan barcode
laurenvoice'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: Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Bullying, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Confinement, Death of parent, Classism, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Slavery, Torture, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Mental illness
marjshopes'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
Minor: Child abuse
katymat18'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, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Slavery
oustlangouste'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Slavery
sauvageloup'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
4.0
pros:
- the ingenuity and originality of the magical system is fab, I love the dark rituals and magic that the societies come up with.
- the plot is intricate and intriguing, with plot twists, but theres always hints that the reader can spot afterwards
- I do really like the characters, they're all so different and their own people, Alex, Darlington, Turner, Dawes and Mercy, but also all the side characters have their own motivations
- the writing is very good, with some rly vivid imagery and turns of phrase that I wish I'd marked
- I love the extremely grey morality in how we have a lot of compassion for Alex, but she is a dark soldier of a character and so is Darlington. that's never minimalised and actually takes front stage in the book.
- the setting is basically a character itself and while I didnt really fall in love with it, I still appreciated the research and beauty of it all
- I also liked how it didnt shy away from linking magical exploitation to real life, like with the runaway slaves map, and how it was never brushed aside. it showed the dark side of the magical and wealthy.
cons:
- it's a dense book, with a lot of time switches near the start, which threw me. keeping track of characters can be tricky and I definitely needed the summary of the 1st bk to remember a lot of things. the complexity if the book all comes together near the end but it takes some getting your head round and was partly why it took me a longer time to read.
- I do kind of wish the series had started at a different point. leigh mentioned it might have been a much longer series and I kind of wish we'd seen the events with hellie and Alex's introduction to lethe by Darlington first hand, rather than in erratic flashbacks. it was hard to feel very invested in Darlington's return for a lot of it because we dont get to view himself ourselves, only through glimpses through Alex.
- sometimes things happened in the plot that felt a bit random, too much out of nowhere.
but overall I did really like it, especially the badass last scene and I very much want to read the next one. (it was also amazing to meet and see leigh talk, would do that again also)
Graphic: Police brutality, Sexism, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, and Drug use
Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Slavery, Suicide, Sexual assault, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
focus on animal death and violence in one graphic scene. the self harm is to do with cutting an arm for a magical ritual the suicide attempt/thoughts are a brief mention by a side character but do come up a couple timeslisasbookselection'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Grief, Drug use, Rape, Death, Addiction, Gore, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Racism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury
mirandaandtitania'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
Graphic: Death, Grief, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Confinement, and Slavery
helenastinks'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Cursing
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Slavery and Sexism
abbypeekreads'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
4.5
As always, please check trigger warnings for this series! The Alex Stern novels are heavy, dark, and fully adult novels, unlike Bardugo's YA Grishaverse series.
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
takarakei'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
5.0
-Literally the prologue I am already "WTF"ing
-Leigh Bardugo is a goddamn genius. That is all.
-Cat scream gif forever.
-I AM READY TO GO TO HELL!
-IT HURTS (& theories)
-THE GASP I GUSP
-I AM ON FIRE
Anyway I really wish we didn't have to wait years for the next book :')
It's also somehow technically 0/5 🌶️ but still I'm 🥵
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Death of parent, Sexism, Drug use, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, and Racism