Reviews

A good book with an interesting premise but it felt a bit formulaic at times and wished it had more fleshed out characters. The main character in particular seems just to be filling the role of the "vengenance driven protagonist who eventually must confront his past to win against the enemy" without any other depths. The book is really compact, every scene drives the overarching plot foreward but it also felt a bit too familiar for my taste (medias res fight introducing the main crew and the gist of the conflict, introducing allies and loved ones, introducing the enemies, crippling loss, plead for help, final conflict). On the other hand the book left me wanting more despite its short length and shallow protagonist. I really enjoyed the notations providing additional information about the shouts and the open ending leaves me hoping for possible sequel with a more in-depth story.

shanayau's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

3.0

marlene061313's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

barizley's review against another edition

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5.0

A lot going on here! Historical fiction, Gullah and African American folklore, supernatural elements, body horror, it’s a lot. Considering how much the author included, I’m surprised (and grateful) and how tight the book is. I was into it from the jump and it rarely dragged from there.

One minor quibble: parts of the ending were a little heavy handed, but no more so than Harry Potter. Similar to Harry Potter, it hit me right in the feels.

yeahnaar's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful sad 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

4.0

A cool concept and a fun read with like able and well written characters. Very cathartic reading for anti racists!

queenhadija's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

jonwesleyhuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

One of the best words I can think of to describe this book is cinematic. The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking of what an amazing movie it'd make. As a writer myself, I have to talk about the craft that goes into this book. Clark does an amazing job of building characters and a world in such a small page count. It's really exciting! I fell for the characters here hard, and my only complaint (that is in fact a compliment) was that I want to spend more time with these characters and in this world.

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