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ferlefur's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Simply wonderful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Death, Medical content, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Genocide, Cancer, and Gore
Moderate: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Blood, Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Incest, Death of parent, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia
cynthreads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, Sexism, Violence, Death, and Gore
Minor: Torture and Slavery
flying_monkey's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I've been torn about this fantasy series, of which this book is the third. On the one hand, it is superbly written, the world-building is strong, and the characters are memorable and well-drawn. On the other hand, it is relentlessly, gleefully and sadistically violent and unnecessarily long and drawn-out. And am I the only person who feels a bit uncomfortable with a white male author making so much of black lesbians? I suspect not. This third book, which one would normally expect to be the end in conventional fantasy sequences, is actually less overtly violent, but it feels even more stretched. A lot of what happens seems to happen for the sake of it, and the routine deception and backstabbing, torture and brutality of all of the characters, including or especially Baru herself, is often really tedious by this point, and by the time we finally get the centre of all this intrigue, treachery and violence, it's actually a bit flat and disappointing. The best bit about the book is the more gentle backstory of the characters from the Africa-equivalent continent. But it's really just an extension of the second book, and together they constitute that mid-trilogy meander, that will hopefully all be resolved in the promised fourth and final book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Slavery
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