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karbolak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Slavery, Animal death, Child death, Abandonment, Body horror, and Death
winterwoodbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Gore, Suicide, Trafficking, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Excrement, Fatphobia, Drug use, Hate crime, Body horror, Cursing, Dysphoria, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, and War
kittens_eating_aliens's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Abandonment
mgraceoliver's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Misogyny, Cursing, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Abandonment, Blood, Sexism, Slavery, Death of parent, Confinement, Classism, Child death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual content, Police brutality, Gore, Grief, Excrement, Death, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
vicky3's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment
seanml'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? No
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Torture, Child death, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Classism, Stalking, Kidnapping, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Excrement, Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment
kaziaroo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Things I liked:
- the characters and their relationships were likeable and interesting, and the side characters were fun
- it was entertaining to read and the ending was satisfying. It would be fine as a stand-alone read – I haven't yet decided whether to read the sequel
- the setting was very rich and felt like a real place – I loved the Falselight and the Elderglass structures. The religious and social settings were also interesting.
What I didn't like:
- Unfortunately my Kindle edition didn't come with a map but I think paper editions do. A map would have made the characters' movements easier to follow.
- There's a lot of swearing – obviously this is personal preference and I did get used to it after a while.
- a lot of the dialogue felt very modern (and American) and at odds with the historical, Italian-inspired setting. Hearing members of the nobility coming out with phrases like "surely you must be kidding" was jarring and took me right out of the story. Characters of different social backgrounds also all seemed to talk in the same way.
- the pacing was all over the place. One moment there's a flurry of action and the next there's thirty pages of trying to swindle some stuffy bankers out of their clothes. I found the first half pretty boring and the second half only just made up for it. The narrative style is very episodic, almost more suited to a magazine or TV show than a novel.
- the main villain is very mysterious, but actually so much so that I found it harder to take him seriously. When we do find out more about him, it's in an info-dump right near the end of the book.
- although I praised the setting, I did find the book a bit too descriptive. I didn't really care what specific food the characters were eating or what it looked like, or the precise sectors of the city the characters walked through from A to B. Maybe if I'd had a map... The narrator also name-drops a lot, and my edition didn't have a glossary either. There are a lot of names of gods, locations, months/days, etc and I ended up skimming over whole sentences that were just a string of unfamiliar names that had no bearing on the rest of the book.
Graphic: Torture, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, Blood, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Moderate: Classism, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexism, Trafficking, Abandonment, and Death of parent
veronika_kasardova's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, and Violence
grayscale08's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Child death, Blood, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Vomit