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beebeewin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- 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
What can I say, other than I was surprised by this book! I feel like at first, I was not truly getting into the story. It was quite slow at the beginning and that wasn't helped by the fact that Hava is a hard to character to like. But in the end, Hava's characterization is probably one of the best parts of this book. Hava as a character is neither good nor bad. She is someone who's been scarred by trauma and can't express her emotions or feelings because of that. This book is about her coming to terms with the trauma and working to be better. By the end you can see her growyh and how she is working on, but not yet perfected, her ability to process her emotions. As someone who's experienced a lot of childhood trauma this book felt so fucking personal. Kristin Cashore once again did a great job of writing the processing of trauma. I think I talked about this in the first three books of this series, Cashore does not hide from the trauma and the truly deep scars it leaves on people. I think the fourth book lost this thread, but it is back here. Due to the setting of the story Cashore was able to do a great job of slowly having Hava unpack the trauma she experienced and learning how to live in the world that comes afterwards. It was interesting, the survival aspect of this novel really tied in with how Hava had to survive as a child and was so well written and I assume researched.
I definitely found myself really getting into it once it got into the second act. The third act was a lot more reflective, but that made sense for the novel narratively. But I think the lowness at the beginning is why I'm not giving it a higher rating. It did take a while to get into and I felt like at least 100-150 pages could have been trimmed. I think Cashore was trying to build Hava's perspective but i think the rest of the novel did that well ao much could have been removed. I do appreciate Hava's perspective, it's someone who was on the outskirts, which made me way more interested in her perspective.
I also really appreciated the romance. It wasn't over the top like some other books I've been reading recently. Instead it was really the slow build, as these two people are healing themselves and want to be together as they heal with one another. It felt so honest to the story and truly lovely.
I would definitely recommend this last book in the series (so far)!
I definitely found myself really getting into it once it got into the second act. The third act was a lot more reflective, but that made sense for the novel narratively. But I think the lowness at the beginning is why I'm not giving it a higher rating. It did take a while to get into and I felt like at least 100-150 pages could have been trimmed. I think Cashore was trying to build Hava's perspective but i think the rest of the novel did that well ao much could have been removed. I do appreciate Hava's perspective, it's someone who was on the outskirts, which made me way more interested in her perspective.
I also really appreciated the romance. It wasn't over the top like some other books I've been reading recently. Instead it was really the slow build, as these two people are healing themselves and want to be together as they heal with one another. It felt so honest to the story and truly lovely.
I would definitely recommend this last book in the series (so far)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Rape, Child abuse, and Death
tessrc's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Seasparrow is a surprise, because it’s the first Kristen Cashore we’ve gotten that’s written in first person. Of course I loved the brief exposures to the familiar characters - Bitterblue, Giddon, Katsa, Po, Raffin, Ban - but I was surprised at how much I came to love Hava’s voice as well. The real stars of the show are the blue foxes, though, who provide humor, joy, and an element of love that really brightens up an otherwise bleak story. Could it have been about two hundred pages shorter? I think definitely. Was it still a great read? Yes, definitely, also.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Violence
imds's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Vomit, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Child death, Trafficking, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Drug use, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
geekmom's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
I continue to appreciate Cashore’s ability to thoughtfully explore trauma and let us see the various ways it can affect the characters in this world. and since there doesn’t seem to be anything like therapy available to them, the next best thing is surely a telepathic fox, or two, or eight…!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Medical trauma
merenguita's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is TENSE. Especially during the middle... everytime I stopped reading I found myself more anxious than when I started.
I honestly struggled to decide what rating to give this book, the beggining was really slow, but I think it was necesarry to build up everything that happens later, it also fits with the way Hava sees and interacts with the world. I think the way it's narrated really differs from the other books of the saga, which is really refreshing, I find that in a lot of books that go through different narrators, they all kind of sound the same, where as this one felt absolutley different. That was a reason why I didn't like it at first but then I got used to it and even got to love the way Hava feels and reads as a character. I highlighted when another character says to her "You're really articulate about how confused you are" because that's a pretty good summary of how I felt.
By the end this book felt just as good as the others in the series, and I really hope Kristin Cashore keeps expanding on this world because I'm not sure if I want to let it go yet.
There's some really dense and hard to read topics throughout the story, so I would recomend to read the CW beforehand and to take your time if you have to.
I honestly struggled to decide what rating to give this book, the beggining was really slow, but I think it was necesarry to build up everything that happens later, it also fits with the way Hava sees and interacts with the world. I think the way it's narrated really differs from the other books of the saga, which is really refreshing, I find that in a lot of books that go through different narrators, they all kind of sound the same, where as this one felt absolutley different. That was a reason why I didn't like it at first but then I got used to it and even got to love the way Hava feels and reads as a character. I highlighted when another character says to her "You're really articulate about how confused you are" because that's a pretty good summary of how I felt.
By the end this book felt just as good as the others in the series, and I really hope Kristin Cashore keeps expanding on this world because I'm not sure if I want to let it go yet.
There's some really dense and hard to read topics throughout the story, so I would recomend to read the CW beforehand and to take your time if you have to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual violence and Torture
TW for hypothermia and general trauma response/trauma aftermath kind of thingtalonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Death, Medical content, Confinement, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Addiction, Pedophilia, Child death, Rape, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Sexism, Homophobia, and Vomit
Needles, nonconsensual drugging. Near-drowning, distress at sea. Urination. Frostbite, amputation.lwooters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, and Blood
laurel_19's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Kristin Cashore does it again! I honestly can't wait to reread this one, after I make it through the cycle again. The exploration of trauma and the human soul are unparalleled. The way the characters seem to leap off the page or sing to you—wow!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and Murder
bchallis's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
If this book was 100-200 pages shorter, it would have been fantastic. I liked the actual plot events and hava's character arc but because the book was so long and so slow, I started getting annoyed with hava and her behaviours.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Rape, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Blood