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nicodaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: War, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Stalking
Minor: Grief, Torture, and Vomit
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
4.5
I got this at the dollar store and to say it exceeded my expectations would be an understatement.
It has a quick pace and is more on the plot driven side, but I was in the perfect mood for this type of story.
The character dynamics and interactions are so well done and made me smile (though they only go so deep).
The plot is the perfect mix of politics and action. Just the plot being based around a dangerous audition for a job under the Queen that’s filled with
1. deadly tests
2. training
and
3. other auditioners who are allowed to kill you
Is right up my alley. And the setting is mainly the palace grounds? Yes please!
Although the world building wasn’t deeply explored within the book, I could tell the author spent time doing it anyway because every detail fit within the world and felt like it made sense.
It did get a little sluggish around the middle but it soon picked back up and I was just as invested again when it did.
Okay I’m done gushing. Would recommend if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy that isn’t too bogged down or “deep.” Very fun read.
P.S. I also really love that the Queen’s left hand have “titles” / new aliases named after the rings she wears on her left hand: Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, and Opal. I thought it was pretty rad.
It has a quick pace and is more on the plot driven side, but I was in the perfect mood for this type of story.
The character dynamics and interactions are so well done and made me smile (though they only go so deep).
The plot is the perfect mix of politics and action. Just the plot being based around a dangerous audition for a job under the Queen that’s filled with
1. deadly tests
2. training
and
3. other auditioners who are allowed to kill you
Is right up my alley. And the setting is mainly the palace grounds? Yes please!
Although the world building wasn’t deeply explored within the book, I could tell the author spent time doing it anyway because every detail fit within the world and felt like it made sense.
It did get a little sluggish around the middle but it soon picked back up and I was just as invested again when it did.
Okay I’m done gushing. Would recommend if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy that isn’t too bogged down or “deep.” Very fun read.
P.S. I also really love that the Queen’s left hand have “titles” / new aliases named after the rings she wears on her left hand: Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, and Opal. I thought it was pretty rad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Classism and Transphobia
Minor: Self harm, Violence, and War
The transphobia is done by an asshole character who refuses to call Sal by anything but feminine pronouns. But it is very obvious this character is a bad guy (it’s not glorified) and we get some great moments when he’s put in his place :)anniereads221's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Transphobia
hannah1994's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.5
🏳️🌈 First off, I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation, especially Non-Binary people in this book. And it wasn't a main part of the plot, instead being more like yeah Sal is Non-Binary, who gives a fuck (except for the bigots who still exist). I want more fantasy with LGBTQIA+ characters!
For me, the plot was pretty fast paced albeit with a few slow parts. The last 40 or so pages were just so intense.
I love the world building so much. There's a queen with a group of assassins called The Left Hand who are named after gems and wear masks. You can see why I think that's awesome. Oh and a war might be going down but that's par for the course.
I feel like the romance was a little bit rushed but I still rooted for Sal and Elise to be together.
Will still read book 2 and see where it all ends.
For me, the plot was pretty fast paced albeit with a few slow parts. The last 40 or so pages were just so intense.
I love the world building so much. There's a queen with a group of assassins called The Left Hand who are named after gems and wear masks. You can see why I think that's awesome. Oh and a war might be going down but that's par for the course.
I feel like the romance was a little bit rushed but I still rooted for Sal and Elise to be together.
Will still read book 2 and see where it all ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, and War
armontheroad's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I am not a fantasy reader so my expectations for this were very low. However, this was a pleasant surprise! I really liked the discussions on gender and how being trans in a cis society is hard, even when you try to cater your appearance to cis people. I loved the fact that this is a fantasy world where magic does not exist because my brain very much struggles with following magic systems. I also just think it was a refreshing take on world-building a fantasy setting! Heavily appreciate the themes of queerness, PTSD, and justice. I do not have a list of content/trigger warnings as I found myself too immersed in the reading experience to jot any down. I would highly recommend searching through StoryGraph and booktriggerwarnings.com for them, though, because this book does not shy away from hard-hitting topics. I will leave below the few warnings I do remember.
CWs/Tws: Murder, death, blood, PTSD, body gore, etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, and Body horror
neighborhoodbeanreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Rep: This book had some of the best gender-fluid representation, and and amazing job incorporating discussions on pronouns in fantasy, in a way I have not seen in other books that try to convey gender-fluid/NB characters. I also really enjoy that there is no eluding to the character's assigned sex at birth, this really helps to force the reader into seeing this person in the way should be-- as gender-fluid. It was great to see how the authors handled having a character that was gender-fluid that used multiple pronouns.
Plot: I thought the plot of this book was well-thought out and had the right amount of twists/turns, I think the pacing could have been a bit better-- it was pretty slow in the beginning and shot-up fairly quickly. I'm excited to read the sequel!
Plot: I thought the plot of this book was well-thought out and had the right amount of twists/turns, I think the pacing could have been a bit better-- it was pretty slow in the beginning and shot-up fairly quickly. I'm excited to read the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Sexism, and Death
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Sexual assault
oceanherd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Transphobia and Colonisation
lolajh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
DUDE definitely one of my favourite fucking books after reading this. A nonbinary genderfluid protagonist, Sal, who is an assassin and uses the pronouns he/him, they/them, and she/her, which flunctuates along with his gender. Sal uses cis people’s stereotypical view of gender and the clothes that are often assigned to it to their advantage, so when she identifies as a girl they wear fem clothes, when they identify as a guy he wears masculine clothes, and when they feel like neither he wear androgynous clothes. As a non binary person myself who experiences my gender expression in such a different way it was so lovely to learn and experience how Sal expresses their gender through clothing. Along with this, Sal is not at all shy of her identity, happily communicating his gender fluidity and boundaries that are made with everyone regarding pronouns and what to use for them and when, very much normalising gender feeling like this not only in this fantasy world but in real life too. Sal allowing herself to get mad at people who disrespect their identity is completely valid, and as someone who finds it difficult to correct people misgendering me, reading stuff like this is empowering, and the fact I was able to take all this away from a fictional book? What you consume in media does truly affect you, and this book did it in a way that was so positive. Also the fact that the author never discloses sal’s biological sex is lovely and important for deconstructing society’s views of gender, especially that of non binary people. Very very very good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Transphobia
salainen's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia, War, Torture, and Death of parent
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Violence