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csemjoro's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Trafficking, War, Gore, and Slavery
Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Animal death
lanid's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Confinement
chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Master of Poisons’ cast felt very fluid, with motivations which were so tied to the ethereal magic of Smokeland that they became hard to pin down. Hezram was the villain, sacrificing children and bleeding transgressors to power dream gates, but it was tricky to remember what the dream gates did, and how (or if) they connected to the fiends who attacked Awa. The prose descriptions of Smokeland were beautiful, elevating Awa’s point-of-view sections above those of Djola, but the connection to the everyday world and the conflict going on there could have been clearer.
Djola’s quest was clearer and gave the story the momentum it needed for a while, but sadly fell prey to Djola’s reliance on magical drugs which left his narration unreliable and disorientated. Perhaps a sharper reader would have fared better, and not got so discombobulated that they missed the link between Awa’s friend Bal and Djola’s daughter.
One thing which stood out amidst the confusion were the animals, both as perspective characters and as companions to the main cast. Bees are a theme throughout the novel, and Andrea Hairston uses them in a far more lifelike way than The Starless Sea. The whales (or behemoths) were also a highlight.
The lyrical prose and fluid morally grey characters are deliberate features of Master of Poisons, but may keep some readers at a remove from the story.
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Slavery
boglord's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Child death, and Transphobia
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, and Vomit
multiplyoctopi's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Body horror, Blood, and Slavery