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kshertz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Death, War, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Torture, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
mackef's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent
allydoessomereading'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
emilyannestern'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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Torture, Violence, Chronic illness, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Murder, Confinement, Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
mh_s'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Medical trauma, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
meeklovestoread'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Honestly close to the 500-page mark I started to not care cuz I was so confused as to what was happening and just the general politics of what was going on. Of course, my own comprehension skills play a part in this, but I also feel like she didn't explain a lot of things well. And I'd like to add that I don't writing battle/fighting scenes is the author's strong suit. Maybe it's just me but I found it difficult to imagine her descriptions a lot of the time. I also felt like a lot of important questions went unanswered.
I was also going to rate this book a 3.5/5, but I really enjoyed the final scenes of the book. I know for most of my review I've pointed out so many negatives about this book, but I do think this was a decent sequel. I did enjoy seeing Violet's inner turmoil when it came to her friends, Tairn and Andarna are always a delight, and Ridoc is just so funny (hope we get more of him). I feel like the author was just put under a lot of pressure to produce a second book due to the overwhelming success the first book got. I hope she's able to take her time with the series continuing forward. Hopefully, the third book can answer some of the unanswered questions and redeem the series.
Graphic: Violence, War, Death of parent, Blood, Death, Grief, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Colonisation and Abandonment
bookswithlauren'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: Violence, Animal death, Medical content, Body horror, Gore, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Grief, Torture, Blood, and Sexual content
sariereads'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Kidnapping, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Confinement, War, Violence, Torture, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
cait'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
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Classism, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Colonisation, Stalking, War, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, and Vomit
mermaidswithcoffee's review against another edition
It’s violent in a really colonized way, with unnecessary death and weird justifications. It reads like kids playing at war as if that’s a good and necessary thing. As if children need to be violent and awful to survive a mysterious eastern other. When the truth is THEY are the monster their parents created and the “other” are just trying to live, not kill them. It was present in the first book but I didn’t catch it, now it screams colonization and I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.
One example: She literally goes into detail about how these children soldiers make sure to dye their hair while hiding out at a traitor compound while they are supposed to be doing war games. Aren’t the teachers suspicious when they come back with freshly died hair when they were supposed to be barely surviving and on dragons? How did they find pink hair dye at the hidden revolutionary compound?!!! It just screams “girl boss”. “Isn’t it so cool that they have cool hair while murdering people?!!”
Another example which finally got me to DNF, which I hate doing, was when Violet justified the killing of her classmates. Said it was necessary to prepare her. With the ongoing genocide of Palestine it made me sick. Thinking of what lies and justifications the US and other white dominate countries have for why they have to bomb civilians.
There are way more problems, like her disability, the main reason I read this book in the first place. Just like everything else her disability is appropriated and rings so shallow. I have a literal connective tissue disease like Violet but I can tell you the representation is not real. I was so excited to see it and so disappointed to see that just like revolution in this book, it’s a stolen poor imitation of it.
I recommend the 5th season if you want world building and actual revolution not just the aesthetic of revolution.
Graphic: Islamophobia, War, Body horror, Genocide, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, Ableism, Animal death, Biphobia, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse