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rsmircina'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
4.25
Moderate: War and Death
sullensunshine'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
4.0
That being said…once it picks up it picks UP. Rin Chupeco does this really neat thing where she alternatives between future scenes and the current perspective of out main character. By the time I finished, I was completely enveloped into the story and ready to read the sequel.
The characters are incredibly diverse (genders, race, even a possible subtle message/context of a gender fluid character and plus size characters). The romance is mentioned but not focused on completely if that’s not your thing and the action scenes are pretty thrilling.
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: War
kathrynleereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
In my mind, this book can be split into two very distinct parts, the first being the majority of the book, and the second being the last 100 pages.
For most of the book, the pace is slow, the plot basically nonexistent, and the character development mild.
Lady Mykaela- Despite having to deal with the daeva on her own for the most part, and without the presence of her heartsglass, Lady Mykaela is such a calming and positive presence. I do wish that she fought back against the kingdoms using her basically as a tool though.
Zoya-
Likh- I wish Likh had been a little more present in this book. I love his character and the debate that his presence brings up about tradition.
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Having Tea explain things to the Bard was a seamless way to foreshadow, and to fill readers in on things they may have overlooked, but I think the Bard’s reactions to Tea’s stories are so much more valuable.
Fictional worlds are sometimes hard for readers to grasp because even with different customs and traditions explained through world-building, it is not always easy to gauge the level of difference between that world and our own.
Putting aside the Bard and the added world-building element that they provided, I enjoyed the presence of the flash-forwards because of the intrigue they created.
Obviously, there are some slight spoilers released through the flash-forwards, but they are so far-fetched from the current direction of the story that it only builds the suspense more.
This book taught me that it is not world-building alone that makes or breaks a book, but world-building that is well-paced.
I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Tea in the rest of the trilogy!
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Sexism
directorpurry'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
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Sexism, and War
tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Tea is a necromancy witch in a world where witches are known. Female witches are trained to use their rune magic to both protect and entertain the wealthy and high class. In their training to entertain they are very highly educated in history, dance, musical instruments and song, as well as fighting. Male witches join the military ranks as Death Seekers. Tea discovers her ability as a Dark Asha by accidentally raising her brother, a fallen death seeker when she is only 12. From here the story follows Tea as she is trained in her craft, but the training doesn't come easy and Dark Asha's are more feared and ridiculed than respected.
The story itself was a little slow, but is told in two timelines. When the reveal of why happens the story starts to pick up. As with most YA stories, Tea is incredibly strong and special. But it didn't feel as Mary Sue as it could have. We see her struggle with many things and we see her fail and we see her punished. I did enjoy the aspect of her making mistakes and learning from them, we aren't told she is smart but we see that she is smart. Though that doesn't mean she doesn't make stupid young teen mistakes. Which I greatly appreciated.
The building of the world and weaving of cultures honestly gives it extra points for me.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Violence
amre23'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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Gore, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, War, Violence, Grief, Sexism, and Classism
Minor: Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Body horror
lakinglaze'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
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
jupiterlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
However, I will admit that there was not a massive amount of it in this novel, but I am willing to put that down to the first novel world building.
This is the first time (I believe) that I have read a book that alternatives between past and present narrative. I found that this kept my interest peaked because you begin to wonder things when reading the present narrative, and you start to wonder if maybe Tea is the villain of the story. However, I did find it slightly confusing as not only was the present time from a different perspective but at times it was all just too much to continuously try and wrap my head around: the different names of the dark items, the different names of the creatures that the dark asha are trained to put down, what each heartglass means and the colours associated with emotions, and the various names of places and people at times was just too much for my head to remember who was who and what the creatures were (but I supposed you can argue that that is not all that important, but it can be frustrating when you cannot visual what you are reading).
I do think that a glossary at the bad with heart glass colours and emotions would have been extremely helpful (others might have found this easier to understand than I did but at times I just gave up remember what silver heartglasses meant and what the colours displayed in them was supposed to represent).
Another thing I will admit is that, for me, it was a very slow paces book, which I am not a massive fan of. While I understand that chapters on Tea's classes and her struggles as a novice are there to build character, I felt that it could be underwhelming at times and it made me not so eager to pick up the book when I had the time.
I will certainly be picking up the next novel due to the ending and the facts that were revealed, but I hope that we get to see Tea using more of her magic and her mischievous nature (which it seems we may with what the information she has decided to withhold from others in the last few chapters). I will also be interested to see what happens with two characters :- one that seems to have went from her forever ally to her enemy, and one that seems to have went from her forever enemy to her ally!
Moderate: Death, Animal death, War, and Violence
Minor: Bullying
aura_rurubele'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
I love the way we explore a young girl's mind in the midst of such chaos and madness. I also love her relationship with her big brother, they're the perfect pair, so to find out what happens in the next book is absolutely heartbreaking.
In other words, this book has phenomenal world building and beautiful descriptive language of all of scenery. It's not particularly over whelming and perfectly positioned to help us gain a sense of this beautiful and dangerous world. The ending is such a plot twist though, goodness I'm still in shock!
Essentially I love this book! Rin Chupeco is officially my favourite Chinese Filipino author, probably my favourite YA author next to Cassie Cassidy.
Moderate: Death, Sexism, and War
Minor: Xenophobia
ariel790'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
4.25
Rin Chupeco kept an easy pace with enough detail to imagine Tea's world with ease. Although, not a unique technique, I did enjoy Tea's humble beginning told as if in the past while jumping back to the present at the end of each chapter. This gave a sense of mystery to be solved in how Tea ended up exiled. While this wasn't revealed, enough to keep Tea interesting is. Looking forward to book 2.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: War and Bullying
Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, and Violence