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tindra_jallhage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Great book but I hated the romance. Katsa is a lesbian and no one can conivince me otherwise
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
4.0
This is a YA novel with an aspec protagonist (my best guess is she'd say demi if that language were available) who ends up in a relationship with someone who meets her on her terms rather than demanding she meet his. It's nice to see an aspec character whose aro/ace nature isn't overwritten or ignored in order to give her a relationship, how she is is part of how they are together.
It's about loneliness, abuse, and healing, including abuse to children and animals, so please be aware that those are major themes in the book.
The world building is solid, with enough detail to make later revelations feel important. The explanations feel natural, occurring as something happens or Katsa thinks of some detail. This makes it feel like the world is slowly being revealed even though early on it's not new to the protagonist. I like Po, he had a difficult set of things to balance and overall I like how he is with Katsa. His situation towards the end skirts some potentially problematic ableist tropes but manages to not make it seem like his late-acquired disability is what gives him greater control of his powers. YMMV on whether this works, I think it does because of the precise order of events.
Overall I like this a lot and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
It's about loneliness, abuse, and healing, including abuse to children and animals, so please be aware that those are major themes in the book.
The world building is solid, with enough detail to make later revelations feel important. The explanations feel natural, occurring as something happens or Katsa thinks of some detail. This makes it feel like the world is slowly being revealed even though early on it's not new to the protagonist. I like Po, he had a difficult set of things to balance and overall I like how he is with Katsa. His situation towards the end skirts some potentially problematic ableist tropes but manages to not make it seem like his late-acquired disability is what gives him greater control of his powers. YMMV on whether this works, I think it does because of the precise order of events.
Overall I like this a lot and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Animal death, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault
elle_dee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, and Violence
ciaraflorence's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny
lumberelk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
readingrat's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
One of my all-time favourit YA romantasy
+ creative and not overdone idea
+ fast paced page-turner
+ worldbuildig so basic, even my squirrel brain could keep up without going back to the map everytime a place was mentioned
+ no cliffhanger & no need to binge the whole series
+ finally a loveable and nice loveinterest in a YA book 🥳 No "He is a walking red flag but I don't care bacause he's hot"
+ romance was there but not too much
- infodumping in the beginning
- ShE iS nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs
- protagonist is a little too overpowered. She can do nearly everything. Yes, I know, it's because of her Grace, but it still leads to:
- ridiculously fast resolving of every problem
- Plottwists can be seen from space (but it's extremely satisfying, if your predictions turn out to be true)
- style of writing is a little inconsistent. Some sentences don't make sense, but it's not to bad for a debut novel
- kind of insta-love? Not love at first sight, you can see the feelings and relationship develop. But it's way too early to suddenly talk about love
=> Undeniable fan-fiction & Mary Sue elements, but I enjoyed every minute of it
+ creative and not overdone idea
+ fast paced page-turner
+ worldbuildig so basic, even my squirrel brain could keep up without going back to the map everytime a place was mentioned
+ no cliffhanger & no need to binge the whole series
+ finally a loveable and nice loveinterest in a YA book 🥳 No "He is a walking red flag but I don't care bacause he's hot"
+ romance was there but not too much
- infodumping in the beginning
- ShE iS nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs
- protagonist is a little too overpowered. She can do nearly everything. Yes, I know, it's because of her Grace, but it still leads to:
- ridiculously fast resolving of every problem
- Plottwists can be seen from space (but it's extremely satisfying, if your predictions turn out to be true)
- style of writing is a little inconsistent. Some sentences don't make sense, but it's not to bad for a debut novel
- kind of insta-love? Not love at first sight, you can see the feelings and relationship develop. But it's way too early to suddenly talk about love
=> Undeniable fan-fiction & Mary Sue elements, but I enjoyed every minute of it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Torture, and Child death
escapism_at_its_finest's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Medical trauma
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, and Murder
binca's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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
Really enjoyable fantasy book that feels like a great transition book for people used to YA fantasy but want to branch out to more adult fantasy - the relationship dynamics feel grown up and not drama heavy at all! A really nice change! <3
The worldbuilding is solid and magical but very easy to get into and rather low key :)
The characters are really loveable and interesting and... gosh, just read it yourself and feel enchanted yourself!
The worldbuilding is solid and magical but very easy to get into and rather low key :)
The characters are really loveable and interesting and... gosh, just read it yourself and feel enchanted yourself!
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Violence, and Death
melplays9000's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I went into this book with no expectations and yet it still managed to surprise me with how good it was. This is advertised as a fantasy romance and that worried me a little because romance is not my thing.But while there was a romantic sub plot it was definitely not the main focus of the story and felt a lot like a very close friendship which I loved.
I loved Katsa as a main character. She was very bold and had a distinct personality, not at all what I expected from the synopsis. I loved that she was pre-established in her world before the story started and her background and situation really fit in well with everything that was going on. The friendships were amazing, new and pre-existing, I loved the companions and the relationships that were built along the way. I also really liked that this book was a self contained story and which can be read as a stand-alone or with gaps between books in the series like i will be reading it.
I cannot however, give this book the full 5 stars because it just lacked some of the intensity that I need to be fully invested. There were some tense moments but they were mostly resolved quickly and I just wasn’t on the edge of my seat for any part of this book really, which was something I would have wanted. The fights all came easily to Katsa because of her grace and while I liked how this was part of her character it got a little boring after a while.
Overall I did not expect to like this book as much as I did and I’m excited to see where the sequel takes me. 4 Stars
I loved Katsa as a main character. She was very bold and had a distinct personality, not at all what I expected from the synopsis. I loved that she was pre-established in her world before the story started and her background and situation really fit in well with everything that was going on. The friendships were amazing, new and pre-existing, I loved the companions and the relationships that were built along the way. I also really liked that this book was a self contained story and which can be read as a stand-alone or with gaps between books in the series like i will be reading it.
I cannot however, give this book the full 5 stars because it just lacked some of the intensity that I need to be fully invested. There were some tense moments but they were mostly resolved quickly and I just wasn’t on the edge of my seat for any part of this book really, which was something I would have wanted. The fights all came easily to Katsa because of her grace and while I liked how this was part of her character it got a little boring after a while.
Overall I did not expect to like this book as much as I did and I’m excited to see where the sequel takes me. 4 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty and Physical abuse
harrownova's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty