Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Castelos em seus ossos

I really enjoyed this. The premise is just the best. I read this after stardust in their veins, but it was still amazing. The Empress is just a villian I love to hate while I love every one of the triplets. I'm a bit annoyed that

the Empress's plan just had her daughters acting as sacrifices as opposed to spies/integral parts of her plan as well. That bit is pretty horrifying. I'm not saying I outright hate it because it makes her evil-I dislike that they aren't integral parts of her plan who are also eventual sacrifices

. Also, I find it a bit weird that every country other than Bessemia has a fundamental problem that could lead to instability with the right planning. I know this is because of the Empress's plan and because Bessemia is older, but it's still a bit weird that there isn't at least some underlying tension that could (eventually) be exploited. Since I've already read stardust in their veins I am desperate for the third book.

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shahdhazem's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Honestly it's a good fantasy read, well built world, good plot, numerous characters and a simple writingstyle. The author also managed each of the POV and plot line of each princess pretty well and kept me interested. The problem for me was that I predicted the plot lines of the princesses from the start but somehow the author still kept me wanting to continue and actually managed a beautiful twist at the end of the book. That's why I raised my initial rating of 3 stars to 3.5 but honestly it can't be higher. And that's for multiple other reasons than the fact that I predicted the plot which are the utmost stretching of events and the fact that the author didn't manage to get me attached by any way to the characters and their sisterly relation. Despite her numerous tries of insisting upon how special their relation was because of how their mother treated them but I still couldn't feel them. Also one of the main things that intrigued me about the book was the title. It's definitely a new one so I was really looking forward to understand It's significance in the book but we didn't get that at all and i'm actually really bummed about it cause it honestly makes no sense compared to the story. In the end, the important question is whether I recommend this or not? I'd say I do but don't expect something big out of it. It's a quick enjoyable read with lots of events so probably could get you out of a slump but I'd say it lacks lots of events to be great you know. Oh and one last thing, will I be reading the second book? Honestly I don't want to cause as I said I don't care about the characters at all but still the last chapter got me intrigued so I think I'd probably give it a try but I don't have any hopes for it.

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bookswithjk's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Far better than I anticipated. While the book does have the classic enemies to lovers and “infiltrate an enemy kingdom in order to bring it down” tropes, the politics were very accessible. The twists and turns were enough to leave me guessing and wanting to know more. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

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ezwolf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Triplet princesses who are trained from birth to marry into other royal families and take over so their mother, the Empress, can rule all of them.

That sounds incredibly interesting and it was for the most part, but I wasn't really wowed by the book. It was a fine read and if you like court fantasies then this is probably a book you would like. I'm interested enough to continue the series but I don't know, I was kind of underwhelmed.

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.25

The premise of this book centers around political intrigue told in multiple POV.

While I'm not a big fan of multiple POV, especially when it's more than two, I did enjoy this book.

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frantically's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-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

3.5

me, talking about margaraux:
"'i could fix her' yeah? well i could accept her as she is. you don't like the murder? grow up. the atrocities are part of her and ive decided they're funny"

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this_momma_is_booked's review against another edition

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adventurous tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a perfect example of how you can love something and still be critical of it. I thought the writing was beautiful, the characters were fleshed out so well, and the interweaving POVs and plotlines kept it interesting. I appreciated how it tried to dismantle patriarchal norms in putting all the focus on the women and girls in this book, basically painting the men as helpless. It was a nice change of pace!

However, I would be remiss to not mention the glaring lack of diversity in this book. Every single character was either obviously white or described in vague terms, such as "dark-haired" or "tan." We should expect more from our fantasy books. I find it incredibly lazy when authors who are creating a whole new world where they make up the rules choose to create one in which there is zero diversity. So you're telling me that you were able to create different customs, languages, countries, but didn't think anyone in that world could be anything other than white or straight? We get one LGBTQIA+ character in the book (Pasquale), but then he's not allowed to flesh out that part of his identity, explore, live in that happiness.

Another gripe I had with the book is the author's use of virginity. The three MCs are literally born to deceive and take over other kingdoms; that is their purpose. And yet we, as readers, are supposed to believe that not one of them consummated their marriage? I understand that this book is YA and I am not recommending that we include sex scenes or that they even need to be mentioned - but actively mentioning virginity and how none of the marriages were consummated MULTIPLE TIMES makes it clear that teenage sex was very much on the author's mind and she chose to villainize it rather than use this as a learning opportunity.

All in all, I really enjoyed the fantasy world built, the strength of the characters, the twists and turns (that ending!), but I do wish more was done to make this a well-rounded book.

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jenna36's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

Honestly, the book is pretty generic YA, but the DRAMA of it all was exquisite. Every chapter I was waiting to see who would betray our protagonists next. I also really appreciated how well-conceived the romantic relationships were. Each one was treated with respect, but did not fall into the YA trap of Instant True Love That Lasts Forever. The relationships ebbed and flowed like real ones, especially ones between teenagers. I really liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I am so ready for the sequel to come out so we can find out what happens after that bombshell of an ending.

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