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caseythereader'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: Death of parent, Grief, Miscarriage, Classism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Addiction, Cursing, Murder, Torture, Blood, Gore, Child death, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
samusc'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
5.0
Saara El-Arifi took a bunch of risks with this title, and executed them flawlessly:
Anoor and Sylah are apart for the entire book, and yet their love for one another still drives their decisions. -
Sylah is knocked out from a severe injury for a decent amount of the book, providing opportunity for strong character moments from Jond and the mysterious old man Niha. -
Anoor 's paranoia increases as she accuses nearly everyone in her inner circle of murder, which has heavy consequences. By the end of the book, she's made some truly awful decisions. While emotionally hard to read about, it makes sense given everything she's been through. She's a young traumatized women who's entire worldview has been rocked; she's ripe for manipulation. - Locations and cultures of people new to our main characters were revealed masterfully. By the end of the first book in the series, Sylah didn't have much to go off of beyond a map showing land beyond the sea and Loot's yellow blood. In comparison, by the end of this title, both the reader and characters of a much larger understanding of the world. This includes one of my favorite aspects of worldbuilding, also seen in the Roots of Chaos series, when groups of people have different explanations for similar religious phenomena, largely due to migration.
- A big theme in The Battle Drum is sacrifice. Unfortunately, we lost many characters on this journey in brutally detailed ways. However, these heartbreaking moments are presented alongside hopeful ones, as is necessary in any fantasy (in my opinion). It's a joy to read about Hassa and Kwame's growing relationship, as well as Jond's adoption of a sand kitten.
This installment in the Ending Fire Trilogy is a perfect example of what a second book in a fantasy trilogy can be, akin to The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri.
Once I got to the last third of this book last night, I had to finish it, there was just so much happening! It then took me over an hour to fall asleep because my mind was buzzing with everything these characters had gone through and predictions for the third book.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Torture, and Death of parent
barda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The first book had some flaws, but I still broadly enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the worldbuilding. While this second book fixed my biggest pet peeve of rapidly switching POV's (this one had the more standard format of a chapter only having one character's POV), it felt like this one was actually more confusing than the first one, and that the author lost plot momentum from the first book.
The characters just weren't as likeable in this book. I still really enjoyed Hassa and she's easily a stand-out character, but Jond was just boring and Sylah was not in the book enough for me to judge her characterisation. Anoor, however, I was the most disappointed in. Like Sylah, it feels like she barely has any screen-time in this book, but most egregiously she seems to regress in all of her character development that she gained in the first book. I hate to criticise characters who make seemingly stupid mistakes, as oftentimes they'll be realistic mistakes that you might expect one to make, but Anoor keeps making mistakes over and over and doesn't seem to learn from the negative impacts of these. She's incompetent and seemingly regains her naivety that she grew out of in the first book. This makes the twist
The plot certainly had some interesting bits, particularly with the Academy and how the cultures of the mainland work. I did also broadly enjoy the plot reveals towards the end of the book; however, they were all suddenly shoved into the end of the book leaving little room for the characters to breathe, and many of the plot twists could have been revealed and solved earlier if characters simply communicated with each other (
Broadly, this book's usually interesting plot was dragged down by its characters and overall characterisation. I still might pick up the next one when it comes out as I think the mysteries that have been set up are worth reading, but I do hope that the author can figure out where they want their characters to go.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Self harm, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Child death, Drug use, Violence, Classism, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Death
Minor: Cursing
lettuce_read's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide and Addiction
mielenmaisemia's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
purplesoccer126's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse
bookwormdystopian2's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Rape
cozyscones'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Gore, Medical trauma, Torture, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Addiction, Trafficking, Alcohol, and War
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Miscarriage, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Death, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, War, Sexism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Colonisation, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Child death, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
nefariousbee'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Confinement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Infidelity, and Kidnapping