Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Goblin Emperor

I really enjoyed this story and have been thinking about it for several days after finishing the book. It did take me almost a month to read because the language was challenging and the pacing was slow. I don't think I would have survived without Kindle's X-Ray feature because there were so many similar-sounding names, and characters were also referred to by more than one name, so I kept losing track of who was who!

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orvillefartenbacher's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

On paper, there are a lot of reasons I shouldn’t have liked this book. I am no stranger to lore dumps and enjoy being thrust into the middle of a story and figuring it out as we go. But- the pace at which complicated names and places were thrust at the reader is dizzying. I almost thought I’d DNF this book for that alone.
Our MC (the most lovable MC I’ve ever encountered) is thrust into a world where he is completely lost and out of his depth. As I decided to let some of the titles and names wash over me, I felt the same. Perhaps this was a choice by the author, or maybe I just struggled, but it was immersive.
Very little happens in this book. It is not a nonstop action piece, rather a series of interactions and a lot of body language. Overall I am pleased to have stuck it out. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue the series since by TBR pile is bananas, but I’ll keep it on my list for sure.

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tuna_mel's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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daffodilcherry's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful slow-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

4.0

A fun, fantasy about political/court intrigue and kindness conquering all. I was very tempted to dump the book by about 200 pages in and I'm happy that I persevered. I think there are slightly too many char cters/words that impeded my enjoyment of the world. My version of the book did not come with a map, which I've since found online that I think would help my understanding a lot. I also wish the glossary was split into terms and people, as it was frustrating to constantly flick back only to be unable to find the meaning of the new word I came across.

The ending was very sweet and actually quite fun. I didn't find Maia enjoyable from the beginning, but after reading reviews about how this was a story about kindness I was able to shift my mindset and grew fond of him.

Wheelhouses: political/court intrigue, steampunk setting, kindness exalted, strong sense of worldbuilding.

Doghouses: too many damn names! Fantasy racism, fantasy sexism, unchallenged divine right off kings, very few women in the main cast, very little plot.

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h4ppycupcake's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? No

5.0

I found the protagonist very endearing and was so pumped every time he figured out how to solve a problem. Maia deserves all the cookies in the world. Highly recommend if you can stand complicated character names and honorifics.

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