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erebus53'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
4.25
There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.
A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.
A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline, at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.
The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.
Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
lavenderhimbo'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: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, Xenophobia, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Homophobia
ebp'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: Violence, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Murder, Suicide, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: War
itsbrianascall'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Body horror, Xenophobia, Murder, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Ableism
blakeandbooks'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
samseyz'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Animal death
Minor: Kidnapping
jaynovara'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Self harm, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Religious bigotry, Cursing, and Sexual violence
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I want to like aspects of the blind representation but upon a closer look the blind main character kind of falls into the "magical disabled persons" trope and I don't like that very much.
"Typically, the disabled characters are limited to four types: the “magical cripple,” the “evil cripple,” the “inspirational cripple” and the “redemptive cripple.” Magical cripples transcend the limitations of the human body and are almost divinelike. They make magical things happen for able-bodied characters."
- PBS.org
I really liked Xiala, I like how relatable Serapio was, the queerness, and the addition or introduction of a third gender.
This was a really good read and I can't wait to dig into the next book in the series.
I'm giving this 4.5 stars out of 5
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Confinement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Violence
pendletca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Genocide, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and War
alyssasaurus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, War, and Vomit