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clarabooksit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Chronic illness, Body horror, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Torture, Mental illness, Classism, Kidnapping, and Animal death
harperphillips96's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My dad spent months begging me to read this, with the caveat that the first 35% is an oppressive slog but then it’s a great found family story. This is very funny, because I liked the first half of the story a lot, lost some interest between 50-75%, and then mostly longed to be put out of my misery for the last 25%. Everyone’s different, I guess!
The beginning was certainly dark, establishing the traumatic history you’re dealing with in these characters, but it also rang emotionally true in a way I think got lost as the book progressed. The choices made in the first half of the book made SENSE to me.
But then… Lanie just kind of turns out to be stupid? I cannot stand incompetent characters and she makes constant, predictable, inexcusable “mistakes” and everything gets really tedious. There’s ZERO sense of urgency, ever, even in VERY URGENT situations. The Bad Guys also have this weird absence of agita and do you know how hard it is to get into a book where no one seems to think any of the stuff going on is high stakes?
And the last chunk… well. There’s a scene around the 75% mark that was supposed to be an exciting, fast paced, emotional action scene and… I think it literally took 2 hours to listen to on the audiobook?? I was literally lying in bed bellowing “GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY” because the scene just WOULD. NOT. WRAP. UP. The same thing happens again at the 85% mark! I was so done and bored and it dragged endlessly.
Anyway, to sum up, Cooney needs a new editor. Bad. This book was a solid 25% longer than it should have been and the tone was wildly inconsistent and in all, I simply wasn’t especially compelled by any of it. It couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty and Vomit
minervacerridwen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
How to start reviewing the ride I've just been on?
From the opening letter, I was hooked by the story. Events immediately took off, and meeting Nita, the tension between the sisters was immediately palpable, even as a lot of information about the characters was being shared. The pacing was inconsistent - suddenly it skipped seven years, and I had to recover from the time jump as if it had been my first ride in a TARDIS. Only to be dragged along with just as much enthusiasm into the next part, and the next, never knowing what the destination might be, but fully absorbed in the journey.
I adore so many different aspects of this book. The writing style! The footnotes (and the way the typesetting was somehow so cleverly done that reading them never made me get lost in the original sentence)! The cover! The poetry! The worldbuilding! And most of all: the main character, Lanie! It's such a breath of fresh air to have such a positive main character, without it ever feeling fake. Every other emotion is welcomed and even explored, but the way Lanie looks around herself in the world and LOVES made me want to read about her forever.Also, the slow-burn relationship between her and Canon Lir is described so beautifully courteously that even I, aromantic ace as I am, swooned.
There was a lot of description and background information, but to me it stayed just on this side of balanced, enriching the worldbuilding. At many times Saint Death's Daughter felt like the book equivalent of a pastry, or a whole bag of them. Sweet, layered, with a hidden core of sharp citrus tartness every now and then. Covered with a suspiciously blood red mirror glaze and sprinkled with crushed skeleton flakes. (As you may notice, it is also one of those books that makes me confirm my love for language and stories and books in general, and renews my inspiration and will to write.)
I marked a lot of content warnings (and possibly even missed some), as this is a story of someone born in a family of assassins and torturers, in a world with a history of war and hate against neighbouring nations - but much more importantly, I do want to mention that in spite of all that, an incredible amount of kindness is shown throughout the story. It's about death, but it's also bright and colourful, inspiring and hopeful. I look forward to the sequel.
From the opening letter, I was hooked by the story. Events immediately took off, and meeting Nita, the tension between the sisters was immediately palpable, even as a lot of information about the characters was being shared. The pacing was inconsistent - suddenly it skipped seven years, and I had to recover from the time jump as if it had been my first ride in a TARDIS. Only to be dragged along with just as much enthusiasm into the next part, and the next, never knowing what the destination might be, but fully absorbed in the journey.
I adore so many different aspects of this book. The writing style! The footnotes (and the way the typesetting was somehow so cleverly done that reading them never made me get lost in the original sentence)! The cover! The poetry! The worldbuilding! And most of all: the main character, Lanie! It's such a breath of fresh air to have such a positive main character, without it ever feeling fake. Every other emotion is welcomed and even explored, but the way Lanie looks around herself in the world and LOVES made me want to read about her forever.
There was a lot of description and background information, but to me it stayed just on this side of balanced, enriching the worldbuilding. At many times Saint Death's Daughter felt like the book equivalent of a pastry, or a whole bag of them. Sweet, layered, with a hidden core of sharp citrus tartness every now and then. Covered with a suspiciously blood red mirror glaze and sprinkled with crushed skeleton flakes. (As you may notice, it is also one of those books that makes me confirm my love for language and stories and books in general, and renews my inspiration and will to write.)
I marked a lot of content warnings (and possibly even missed some), as this is a story of someone born in a family of assassins and torturers, in a world with a history of war and hate against neighbouring nations - but much more importantly, I do want to mention that in spite of all that, an incredible amount of kindness is shown throughout the story. It's about death, but it's also bright and colourful, inspiring and hopeful. I look forward to the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
smileyblue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Within twenty pages, I fell in love with Miscellaneous ("Lanie") Stones and was entranced by the world that CSE Cooney had crafted. In sharp contrast with gothic, edgy tone adopted by other books with necromancer main characters, the energy of Saint Death's Daughter was bright, loving, and hopeful. The author's prose, reminiscent of parlor room period novels, held down the wondering tone throughout.
I was impressed by how deeply character-driven the plot was given that "new" magical properties are introduced at intervals. Despite some involvement of the world's twelve gods, at no point did it ever feel nauseatingly deus-ex-machina. Character deaths, too, felt in line with the story, not chosen to pluck at the reader's heartstrings.For example, after being so horrible to Lanie, Nita's gruesome death struck me as cathartic in a Roald Dahl sort of way.
All this praise aside, I found myself hungering for more of the first part of the book. In some ways, it felt like the heart of the story was with fifteen-year-old Lanie. Cooney's voice truly sparkled off the page when working with young Lanie's voice, reminding me of the whimsy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Perhaps this glittering nostalgia helped underpin the pain and nostalgia of the later portions of the book, but I wished to have had a bit more.
I was impressed by how deeply character-driven the plot was given that "new" magical properties are introduced at intervals. Despite some involvement of the world's twelve gods, at no point did it ever feel nauseatingly deus-ex-machina. Character deaths, too, felt in line with the story, not chosen to pluck at the reader's heartstrings.
All this praise aside, I found myself hungering for more of the first part of the book. In some ways, it felt like the heart of the story was with fifteen-year-old Lanie. Cooney's voice truly sparkled off the page when working with young Lanie's voice, reminding me of the whimsy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Perhaps this glittering nostalgia helped underpin the pain and nostalgia of the later portions of the book, but I wished to have had a bit more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
cloodnook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Blood
skywhales's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
almost got a 5 from me but if carter can still be occupying my brain today but couldn't make it to a perfect 5 than this can't either, sorry </3
but good god the WORLDBUILDING. FUCK. we've got a pantheon of unique gods, an intricately designed magic system and possibly the most interesting take on necromancy i've seen to this day, a calendar and dates system, multiple cultures and languages and Rituals and Holidays and ohhhhhmygod i wish EVERY book had this much going on in its world. made my own little glossary of terms i thought i'd need to keep track of (learned from baru) but didn't end up needing it all that much and that was nice. quadic being in iambic pentameter was incredibly delightful. i actually wish we'd learned more about the different kinds of magic. like i know each one is tied to a god but if the parliament of rooks has 24 wizards with different abilities in it which gods have domain over multiple abilities? which goes with which? especially if they usually don't have necromancers/fire wizards. so 10 gods and 24 strains of magic. also are the parliament of rooks' bird patterns literally fused to their skin? unrelated. god i love a richly detailed world.
the prose was at times really good, at times a tad grating. there were some things that probably could have done with less description. and also--and i am aware that in this instance this is solely personal preference--i'm usually not a fan of "quirky" humor and there were certain things that just made me roll my eyes or cringe. loved most of the dark humor associated with the stones and their fucked up bloody legacy though. exactly my kind of thing. something that i don't know was intentional or not was just how little time was spent on certain things that to me felt like Big Revelations but to lanie i guess were just. whatever? or she already knew but didn't state?mostly i am talking about goody being quick fantastic stones and canon lir being errolirrolin <- had to go back to the book to spell that name. to me those were HUH. OH MY GOD moments but maybe we were expected to have figured them out??? wish we coulda sat with those for a minute. i mean they made Sense but still.
it took me a while to come around on most of the characters--longer than some books would have, but then in other books i may never have come around at all so really it all balances out i suppose. lanie was cute--there was an air of Super Special Unique Awesomeness about her that annoyed me at first but i love how she loves her creations. mak was okay, not like an all time favorite or someone i could see myself getting mentally ill about but he was a solid, well-rounded and likable character. datu was fun. i like morbid children. havoc and the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo whose names i have sadly Already Forgotten were...fine. havoc was the source of a lot of the quirky humor that annoyed me (i like her name though), and while i liked the other two more they were all introduced too late in the story for me to really feel completely attached to them. the story of the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo forming their bond was very sweet though. goody was one of my favorite characters and i definitely think her relationship with lanie was the most powerful in the book for me. nita was...conflicting. i just strongly dislike the idea of any character being quintessentially "born bad" and the story seemed insistent on telling me that that's what nita was like. i also strongly disliked the back cover's use of "psychotic" to refer to her when that's a real mental illness that doesn't automatically equate to an evil or dangerous person. i would have appreciated her role in the story a lot more if she wasn't portrayed as unrepentantly evil even as a child and rather as someone working to live up to the legacy of the stoneses and gradually losing more and more of her humanity along the way, until her hubristic downfall. also i think i would have really liked unnatural stones if he was. an actual character. the blackbird bride was a pretty good villain even if i wish i could've seen more of her motivation. i mean i know her Obvious motivation but i want to know more about her feelings. the feelings of the rest of the parliament. yknow. also unless i misread something she married her cousin which EWWWWW. i fucking hate reading about incest no matter the justification. it automatically makes my reading experience at least 15% more unpleasant. sorry if that makes me a prude or whatever. i don't care.
the romance was a little saccharine at times and not entirely my favorite thing but at least canon lir was a pretty interesting character and the twist at the end was sufficiently OH SHIT! i just wish there had been more substance to it than "childhood friends endlessly fawning over each other." btw this book seems to (but to be fair this is conjecture) operate on an "everyone is bi" mindset, or at least all of the main characters are (probably), which isn't my faaaavorite kind of lgbt+ fantasy world? just because i think there should also be a place for people who have fought to have their identity recognized as not having anything to do with men/women. but, like, it's leagues better than an "everyone is straight except for a few weirdos" world. and nita might have been straight. but that doesn't really mean anything.
the climax of this book was So Stinking Cool. the kinda thing that makes the thirteen year old boy part of me go a little bit apeshit. i love awesome climaxes i love awesome worldbuilding that was soooooo fucking epic.
of all the books i've read this would be the one i'd recommend most decisively to locked tomb fans. it's got the necromancy yeah but it's also got the casual genderfuckery and the deep intense bond between a warrior/caster duo that isn't necessarily romantic. and cringy dialogue. sorry locked tomb fans.
will be reading the sequel when it comes out but after i've made a substantial dent in my tbr because i need time to let the whole thing sink into my head and i kinda rushed through this one because i'm going back to boston in a few weeks and need to limit the amount of books i bring.
but good god the WORLDBUILDING. FUCK. we've got a pantheon of unique gods, an intricately designed magic system and possibly the most interesting take on necromancy i've seen to this day, a calendar and dates system, multiple cultures and languages and Rituals and Holidays and ohhhhhmygod i wish EVERY book had this much going on in its world. made my own little glossary of terms i thought i'd need to keep track of (learned from baru) but didn't end up needing it all that much and that was nice. quadic being in iambic pentameter was incredibly delightful. i actually wish we'd learned more about the different kinds of magic. like i know each one is tied to a god but if the parliament of rooks has 24 wizards with different abilities in it which gods have domain over multiple abilities? which goes with which? especially if they usually don't have necromancers/fire wizards. so 10 gods and 24 strains of magic. also are the parliament of rooks' bird patterns literally fused to their skin? unrelated. god i love a richly detailed world.
the prose was at times really good, at times a tad grating. there were some things that probably could have done with less description. and also--and i am aware that in this instance this is solely personal preference--i'm usually not a fan of "quirky" humor and there were certain things that just made me roll my eyes or cringe. loved most of the dark humor associated with the stones and their fucked up bloody legacy though. exactly my kind of thing. something that i don't know was intentional or not was just how little time was spent on certain things that to me felt like Big Revelations but to lanie i guess were just. whatever? or she already knew but didn't state?
it took me a while to come around on most of the characters--longer than some books would have, but then in other books i may never have come around at all so really it all balances out i suppose. lanie was cute--there was an air of Super Special Unique Awesomeness about her that annoyed me at first but i love how she loves her creations. mak was okay, not like an all time favorite or someone i could see myself getting mentally ill about but he was a solid, well-rounded and likable character. datu was fun. i like morbid children. havoc and the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo whose names i have sadly Already Forgotten were...fine. havoc was the source of a lot of the quirky humor that annoyed me (i like her name though), and while i liked the other two more they were all introduced too late in the story for me to really feel completely attached to them. the story of the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo forming their bond was very sweet though. goody was one of my favorite characters and i definitely think her relationship with lanie was the most powerful in the book for me. nita was...conflicting. i just strongly dislike the idea of any character being quintessentially "born bad" and the story seemed insistent on telling me that that's what nita was like. i also strongly disliked the back cover's use of "psychotic" to refer to her when that's a real mental illness that doesn't automatically equate to an evil or dangerous person. i would have appreciated her role in the story a lot more if she wasn't portrayed as unrepentantly evil even as a child and rather as someone working to live up to the legacy of the stoneses and gradually losing more and more of her humanity along the way, until her hubristic downfall. also i think i would have really liked unnatural stones if he was. an actual character. the blackbird bride was a pretty good villain even if i wish i could've seen more of her motivation. i mean i know her Obvious motivation but i want to know more about her feelings. the feelings of the rest of the parliament. yknow. also unless i misread something she married her cousin which EWWWWW. i fucking hate reading about incest no matter the justification. it automatically makes my reading experience at least 15% more unpleasant. sorry if that makes me a prude or whatever. i don't care.
the romance was a little saccharine at times and not entirely my favorite thing but at least canon lir was a pretty interesting character and the twist at the end was sufficiently OH SHIT! i just wish there had been more substance to it than "childhood friends endlessly fawning over each other." btw this book seems to (but to be fair this is conjecture) operate on an "everyone is bi" mindset, or at least all of the main characters are (probably), which isn't my faaaavorite kind of lgbt+ fantasy world? just because i think there should also be a place for people who have fought to have their identity recognized as not having anything to do with men/women. but, like, it's leagues better than an "everyone is straight except for a few weirdos" world. and nita might have been straight. but that doesn't really mean anything.
the climax of this book was So Stinking Cool. the kinda thing that makes the thirteen year old boy part of me go a little bit apeshit. i love awesome climaxes i love awesome worldbuilding that was soooooo fucking epic.
of all the books i've read this would be the one i'd recommend most decisively to locked tomb fans. it's got the necromancy yeah but it's also got the casual genderfuckery and the deep intense bond between a warrior/caster duo that isn't necessarily romantic. and cringy dialogue. sorry locked tomb fans.
will be reading the sequel when it comes out but after i've made a substantial dent in my tbr because i need time to let the whole thing sink into my head and i kinda rushed through this one because i'm going back to boston in a few weeks and need to limit the amount of books i bring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Blood and Child abuse
Minor: Incest
millibear's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
How to put this. If something makes me draw fanart, I suppose I simply must stan, lmao. I don't feel like I can give a well-constructed review here--I just want people to read this!!
Certainly the middle drags some as the characters are themselves at a loss at how to proceed during that period, but I felt like it was worth getting through as we got to see them learn to live with each other.
This book's got a young woman coming into her own power, grappling with her family legacy, and staring down certain war as an obsessed monarch tries to take apart the family she's created--all in here. A whimsical fantasy with veins of weirdness, and a really fun read.
I do love Laniebecoming the greatest necromancer the country's seen in centuries and taking that power to right the wrongs of her family at her beloved goddess's command. Is it her fault her family have been horrors for generations? No. But she still benefits from her family's legacy, and she's committed to balancing things out. A streak of nobility I can admire, and would love to see further acted on in future books.
Also, Bran Fiakhna's whole obsession with Lanie? Chef's kiss. We love that gay shit. And do not get me started on gyrgardon/gyrveard. Insane. If I think too hard about "I will have thee or I will have no one" I'll lose it.
A surprising amount of feet stuff, though, lmao.
Certainly the middle drags some as the characters are themselves at a loss at how to proceed during that period, but I felt like it was worth getting through as we got to see them learn to live with each other.
This book's got a young woman coming into her own power, grappling with her family legacy, and staring down certain war as an obsessed monarch tries to take apart the family she's created--all in here. A whimsical fantasy with veins of weirdness, and a really fun read.
I do love Lanie
Also, Bran Fiakhna's whole obsession with Lanie? Chef's kiss. We love that gay shit. And do not get me started on gyrgardon/gyrveard. Insane. If I think too hard about "I will have thee or I will have no one" I'll lose it.
A surprising amount of feet stuff, though, lmao.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
displacedcactus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This is one of those very weird books that you're probably going to either love or hate. I personally loved it. But I don't even know where to begin with describing it. It's got violence and necromancy and assassins and revenge and shapeshifters and a magic puppy and a festival where almost everyone cross-dresses and a fire deity and politics and theology... There's family, by blood and marriage and choice.
If you like books with rich world building, complicated characters and relationships, and you can handle the massive pile of trigger warnings, go ahead and give this book a try.
If you like books with rich world building, complicated characters and relationships, and you can handle the massive pile of trigger warnings, go ahead and give this book a try.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Slavery and Death of parent
Animal cruelty/violence against animals:aardwyrm's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cooney's prose is rich on the scale of croquembouche and should be treated accordingly. The prose and general structure walk a tightrope that passes over twee and saccharine, and there are occasional stumbles, but the overall effect is worth it. The book is the epitome of "no plot, just vibes" for nigh on 500 pages despite having a few vague throughlines. The feeling of being a fourteen year old goth listening to The Black Parade just before falling asleep. There aren't characters so much as beautiful paper dolls with clever joints being puppeted across a stage made of pitch-black cotton candy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Body horror, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Violence, and War
rubyhosh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Torture, and Child abuse
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