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rbjennings's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
bella613's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Great YA novel!
Took me a few chapters to get into it, and the story was very predictable, but it was entertaining and well written. The beginning of the book kind of dragged, and the premise has definitely been done, and in better ways. It was like every ~girl finds out she has superpowers and learns to control them~ story mixed with every ~dystopian country in an oppresive civil war needs teenage girl to be the face of a rebellion against cruel leadership~ story. But there's nothing wrong with that, and YA readers eat that stuff up. I wish I could have read this in middle school. It still would have been predictable, but my complaints for this book are also true of the hunger games and divergent, and I loved those back then. I'm rating it pretty high because I did enjoy listening and I think I would have loved it if I were the age it's meant for (like 10 years ago).
I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series. I hope that we will get to know Mare's brothers better, that Cal will become a round character, and that we'll get more unique plot points.
Took me a few chapters to get into it, and the story was very predictable, but it was entertaining and well written. The beginning of the book kind of dragged, and the premise has definitely been done, and in better ways. It was like every ~girl finds out she has superpowers and learns to control them~ story mixed with every ~dystopian country in an oppresive civil war needs teenage girl to be the face of a rebellion against cruel leadership~ story. But there's nothing wrong with that, and YA readers eat that stuff up. I wish I could have read this in middle school. It still would have been predictable, but my complaints for this book are also true of the hunger games and divergent, and I loved those back then. I'm rating it pretty high because I did enjoy listening and I think I would have loved it if I were the age it's meant for (like 10 years ago).
I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series. I hope that we will get to know Mare's brothers better, that Cal will become a round character, and that we'll get more unique plot points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, War, Grief, Blood, Classism, Torture, and Violence
bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Enjoyable in terms of plot and some of the characters but very very generic. I know this book was one of the firsts of its kind but still. Will probably continue to the next book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Blood
fuelledbymonster's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Violence, Police brutality, Blood, and Genocide
nicole_cries_alot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.75
This holds up, the brutality of some of the characters feels necessary instead of excessive. The final battle is tense and well done, the false sense of safety holds up throughout the story and the characters have moments where the feel fully flushed out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
cowboylikebrie15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
carolinecash's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It’s not that I thought the book was bad, I just wasn’t exactly drawn in and excited to read more. I had no connection with the characters and probably wouldn’t have finished the book if I was reading paper and not listening to it on audio. I am still considering reading the next books, this is just very 2015 ya dystopia and you have to be into that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I was looking forward to this book, as it seemed like it had a lot of potential for an interesting story. Unfortunately I didn’t feel like it kept that potential as the story went on.
Overall I found it slow and a bit tedious with minimal action happening. Something about the pacing just didn’t grab me. Which was disappointing as I found the concept interesting and thought it could be executed well.
The characters too just felt very flat and one note. I can’t tell you much about any of the characters. I didn’t really find them or their relationships overly compelling. There were a few moments here and there I did think a character or dynamic would really shine, but overall it rarely felt earned.
The writing style also wasn’t all that impressive to me. There were a few instances where something was described in a weird way, but outside of that it read like your typical YA fantasy.
I definitely think the book had some potential, especially the concept. In the end I think it just fell a bit flat.
Overall I found it slow and a bit tedious with minimal action happening. Something about the pacing just didn’t grab me. Which was disappointing as I found the concept interesting and thought it could be executed well.
The characters too just felt very flat and one note. I can’t tell you much about any of the characters. I didn’t really find them or their relationships overly compelling. There were a few moments here and there I did think a character or dynamic would really shine, but overall it rarely felt earned.
The writing style also wasn’t all that impressive to me. There were a few instances where something was described in a weird way, but outside of that it read like your typical YA fantasy.
I definitely think the book had some potential, especially the concept. In the end I think it just fell a bit flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Police brutality, Racism, Classism, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture
bookaholic84's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Wow; I finished this in one sitting what a fabulous book. I loved every second of it; without giving any spoilers all I will say is if you haven’t read it you must do so…
The characters, the twists, the plot, I loved them all some I hated obviously but I loved that I hated them…
I cannot wait to see where the rest of this series goes, so onto book 2
The characters, the twists, the plot, I loved them all some I hated obviously but I loved that I hated them…
I cannot wait to see where the rest of this series goes, so onto book 2
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, Slavery, and Blood
Minor: Murder and Death of parent
unremi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Epic dystopian
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Death, War, Genocide, and Stalking