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sealreads'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
3.0
Moderate: Rape, Incest, Gore, and Murder
gummiefox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
adragoninspace'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
4.25
Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Trafficking, Body horror, Death of parent, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, and Vomit
anni_swanilda'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
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gore, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, and Incest
Minor: Rape
flowerpaladin's review against another edition
This book's biggest problems (for me) were 1. the story structure and 2. the gruesome content. The story is told from multiple points-of-view from different time periods, but all about the same character. On top of that, the world-building is extremely confusing. I had to pause and re-read entire pages sometimes, which isn't something I ever really have to do. And so far as I can tell, this POV-shifting is completely unnecessary. I would've enjoyed the story a lot more if it had just stuck with Khirin's POV.
As for the second issue, slavery is a topic that is a personal squick for me, and I usually try to avoid it. It was pretty prominent right at the beginning of this book, but since the book is queer, I tried to persevere, thinking maybe it wouldn't be a major plot point. But it is. It doesn't seem like it ever really moves away from this concept of characters being owned, abused, raped, and murdered by other characters. That is just too dark and too horrific for me to stomach.
It's my hope that we'll start to see more and more queer high fantasy stories that center hope and love instead of wading through dark topics like rape and murder and slavery. I'm not condemning books like that. I just really wish I could find the ones that were more like what I'm looking for... what I really need in my life right now.
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Violence, Body horror, Death, Torture, and Gore
szuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Graphic: Classism, Death, Homophobia, Torture, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Infidelity, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content and Gore
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
5.0
It has a fantastic, interesting structure. I am always one who loves a bit of a puzzle or weird structure to my novels and this definitely satisfied that urge. Told in two (and a half) POVs, to and from a jailer to their prisoner + footnotes from a third individual, this follows two different timelines as they slowly converge to explain how the jailer and prisoner ended up in their current position. The complexity of this structure is absolutely not for everyone. It is such a slow paced fantasy book, it weaves and wanders and you have to accept that you will not know what’s going on for the vast majority of this book. But I loved that about it!! I loved that each chapter ended on almost a mini cliffhanger. I loved getting to guess at what was happening and racing to read on. I found each POV section equally as interesting so even though the cliffhangers happened, I was still interested in the switching stories. It was just fabulously written.
The characters are brilliant, as book 1 of a 5 part series I’m very excited to see how they develop. I believe the later books are poly? And the main character Kihrin is bisexual. Anyway I have the rest of the series on order, and I am horrific at reading sequels so that is truly a sign of how much I loved this! Please note, this did get very very dark though so note below content warnings.
Content warnings: slavery (inc sexual slavery), death, violence, torture, rape, murder, blood, domestic abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, war, misogyny, incest
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, War, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Trafficking, Rape, Genocide, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death, War, Mental illness, Gore, Violence, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Incest, Grief, and Gaslighting
roguesaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, War, Body horror, Rape, and Blood
Minor: Incest
anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Deadnaming, Confinement, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, War, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Biphobia
Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy