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scarlettskyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
hzamrzla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
Minor: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
possibilityleft's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
madamenovelist'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: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
clarabooksit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Genocide, Infertility, and Death of parent
jonie_rich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
froyobaggns'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, Vomit, and War
erebus53'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
4.0
This is a story about a group of necromancers, each paired with a fighter, who are attempting to unlock the secrets of a complex that will allow them to ascend to semi-godhood. They are needed as the tools of a mighty god necrolord who is .. running out of minions (which could cause the end of the empire?). The plot flow runs like a party based RPG and the challenges feel a bit like a videogame. I was reminded of Portal more than once.
This book is a confluence of nerdinesses. The language was appealing to me because the author is a New Zealander (like me). Many of the quirky idioms are from my local Kiwi dialect and from internet memespeek, which meant that I was right at home with the queer parlance. There was even a "yeah nah" in there which made me chuckle, and, until now, I have never once heard of someone referred to in a novel as "a bit of a d*ck". As someone who is interested in anatomy, I found myself familiar with medical terminology that was liberally peppered through the book, and as someone who reads psychology books, I was also familiar with random gushes of pop-psychology neuroscience. This might make the book a little impenetrable or, just exotic? to some readers.
As far as the action in the story is concerned, combat flows like an action anime. There are rapier duels and magic duels and combos of the two. There are weird undead things and so much rot, bone, teeth, goo, viscera, flesh, blood, body parts.. unidentifiable liquids. Things jab and pierce and stick and gloop and spray. I was reminded of Akira, Elfen Lied, and Attack on Titan (and many other newer and less well known titles). The plot turns on a dime and the antagonists launch into expository monologues that reveal that you were completely in the dark in so many ways, but I don't hate it.
Also as in anime there are some .. kind of problematic moments that are pure "fanservice". The main character is continually eyeing-up and sexualising other characters, which comes across as funny, and also very gay, but also a bit eyerollingly cringe.
Wrap this all together with some deep lore, trauma-informed tragic backstory, a few (deliberately) disastrously toxic relationships, and some feels, and you get a recipe for a book that launches a fandom. Yeah, I'll read the others, even if parts of it are a hot mess and I don't actually enjoy all the fight-scenes and battles. The characters are fun and there is enough deliberately left unrevealed that I am intrigued to find out what comes next.
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism
tigerproofrock'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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
ivan_tw'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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Vomit