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corsetedfeminist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Ableism
kaylurzz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The amount of times I almost DNF-ed this. I should have and saved myself some time lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Minor: Religious bigotry, War, and Xenophobia
court_reads_it_all's review against another edition
The first red flag in the book is the constant description of Amaris' white skin as pure and beautiful, while Nox, the only POC character, is the only one to be whipped. Additionally, Amaris romanticizes life as a farmer or noble man's wife, while Nox tries to protect her friend during a traumatic event. The writing style attempts to mimic Tolkien or C.S. Lewis but falls short, resulting in the book dragging on with chapters dedicated to mundane tasks. Overall, the book is disappointing and only receives one star despite being a gift and on my to-be-read list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Trafficking, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Body shaming, Racism, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Classism, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
pocketcrow's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexual violence
nerdyforbooks_'s review against another edition
Do yourself a favor and research this book online & don’t just rely on reviews.
I bought this book because of the back. What an AWESOME sounding concept, two fae-touched girls, fighting across the world to reach each other in a war. Cool! I knew nothing about the controversy behind it.
This book is not cool. Let’s start with the fact that in 125 pages I know barely anything about this world. Even though the author tries to make it sound like Nox is highly educated & worldly. Then let’s touch on the fact that tokenism is literally dropped in the first… 20 pages of this book and then the POC MC is whipped for breaking a bottle of oil & bag of flour on page 44. If you can get past those super gross feeling cringe moments, color me shocked because I probably zoned out multiple times just going along from the crap filler.
I was willing to give this book the benefit of the doubt (like OK whipping during medieval times was a form of punishment if we wanna argue that angle - but I don’t even know ANYTHING ABOUT THIS WORLD to say that’s a fair argument), but uhh… all I can say is WTF. Find something better to read.
I bought this book because of the back. What an AWESOME sounding concept, two fae-touched girls, fighting across the world to reach each other in a war. Cool! I knew nothing about the controversy behind it.
This book is not cool. Let’s start with the fact that in 125 pages I know barely anything about this world. Even though the author tries to make it sound like Nox is highly educated & worldly. Then let’s touch on the fact that tokenism is literally dropped in the first… 20 pages of this book and then the POC MC is whipped for breaking a bottle of oil & bag of flour on page 44. If you can get past those super gross feeling cringe moments, color me shocked because I probably zoned out multiple times just going along from the crap filler.
I was willing to give this book the benefit of the doubt (like OK whipping during medieval times was a form of punishment if we wanna argue that angle - but I don’t even know ANYTHING ABOUT THIS WORLD to say that’s a fair argument), but uhh… all I can say is WTF. Find something better to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, and Violence
aubreycc123's review against another edition
DNF @ 50%
I really wanted to like this but it’s such a chore. The feminist themes(and honestly the book in general) are always tell don’t show and you can really tell it’s written by a cis woman. The themes fall flat when you actually pick at them and with Nox in particular they often mirror racist tropes about black women.
The lowlights for me were:
- calling periods the “curse of womanhood”
- “hard thick rod of serotonin” is one of the worst things I’ve had the displeasure of reading.
- saying the women working in the brothel were empowered when they were literally sold into sex slavery, this view was not challenged in what I read
- the graphic depiction of a black girl getting whipped for really just no reason at all
- Giving the lesbian character who was sold to a brothel a sex scene with a man that by all accounts is smut and seen as something enjoyable for her. I know this is marketed as a bi fantasy but Nox is literally described as having no taste for men so wtaf was that.
I really wanted to like this but it’s such a chore. The feminist themes(and honestly the book in general) are always tell don’t show and you can really tell it’s written by a cis woman. The themes fall flat when you actually pick at them and with Nox in particular they often mirror racist tropes about black women.
The lowlights for me were:
- calling periods the “curse of womanhood”
- “hard thick rod of serotonin” is one of the worst things I’ve had the displeasure of reading.
- saying the women working in the brothel were empowered when they were literally sold into sex slavery, this view was not challenged in what I read
- the graphic depiction of a black girl getting whipped for really just no reason at all
- Giving the lesbian character who was sold to a brothel a sex scene with a man that by all accounts is smut and seen as something enjoyable for her. I know this is marketed as a bi fantasy but Nox is literally described as having no taste for men so wtaf was that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Racism, and Sexual assault
The first 2 content warnings are because of how the author wrote it and not the actual content of the text.thebluebird3752's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- 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? No
2.75
It was fine, I enjoyed the writing style. There were some aspects I did not enjoy, and several that were outright problematic. it also felt like there was a lot of nothing happening in some chunks. I wouldn't read it again, but I didn't hate reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape
The main points if racism are not due to the world it is set in but rather due to the authors own decision. I do not believe it was their intention for it to come off that way but it did regardless.itskay24's review against another edition
The writing was horrible, the themes were very problematic and there was barely a plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Trafficking
kelanor's review against another edition
It's mediocre and boring. So many grammatical mistakes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
kpowers'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse and Racism