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jessieslibrary'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death and Cursing
Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Suicide
omfgeleanor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Child death
li_reading's review against another edition
5.0
I will say, I do think the new edition is an improvement to the original.
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Misogyny and Adult/minor relationship
puttingwingsonwords'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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Drug use, Hate crime, and Infidelity
rachrreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I am unsure how I feel about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading from these characters POVs— well except for Callum’s. I hated how malicious Callum was, especially considering he was an empath. Libby, while annoying, was the most relatable for me. Parisa is a queen. Nico is charming and a bundle of energy. Tristan was intriguing and his powers are still a mystery to me. Reina was the much needed calm center for the group.
I found the explanation of the magic to be lacking. The word medeian is used in contrast to witch, but it is not clearly explained what the difference is. I think medeian is just a highly skilled and/or trained wizard and a witch is just a common person with magic and no training, but not sure.
I do not fully understand the plot and what happened at the end either. Every time I thought I understood what was going on, the next chapter confused me even more. I am intrigued to see where Olivie Blake goes with this though, so I am tempted to read book 2.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcohol, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping
sunsetcity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Terminal illness
angela005's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child death and Terminal illness
boglord's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Classism, Suicide, Gun violence, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Death, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Every decade, six medeians are invited to compete for a place in the Alexandrian Society. They are the best of the best, masters of their craft. They must study, train and fight under the same roof for a year, five will go on to study for a second year, one will not. It is up to them to decide who is eliminated.
I do not have the words to describe how this book made me feel. The story was so different from anything I could have imagined, but Olivie Blake really delivered when it comes to the characters and the atmosphere. The latter was mainly as a result of her beautifully crafted prose, which really reflected the elitist academic setting and transported the reader right into the centre of all the action and tension within the Library of Alexandria.
When it comes to the prior, I think the author must have worked some sort of magic of her own. All of the characters were so deeply flawed and quite a number of them were undeniably twisted, but she somehow managed to make me care for all of them. Most of all, to my surprise, I found myself adoring the most depraved character in this book - Callum Nova. I don't know why I cared for him so much, but I loved his power and I loved the way he observed other characters from afar without much care for their opinion of him. I have never read from a character like him before, which - considering the number of dark academia literature published every year - is quite an achievement!
The reason I emphasise the characters in this novel is that they are truly the foundation for what Blake has crafted here. The novel has a plot, but it gently simmers in the background as the characters and their dynamics (not to mention all their discussions about physics, psychology and human morality) take centre stage. The plot really only picks up right at the end, but that is exactly I type of book that I enjoy, so I can't complain. I absolutely adored this and cannot wait to see where the author takes this story next! (I just hope that we get to see a little more of Callum!)
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Drug use, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
dosymedia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
- do you love pretentious intelligentsia & academicians with murderous bents? imo, if you liked the prose and the narration in the Red Rising series or in Micah Nemerever's These Violent Delights, specifically for the broad inclusion of the social sciences and philosophy, this might intrigue you
- the magic is wishy-washy, v. soft, but worked for me tonally
- everybody queer, yay!
- romantic relationships develop out of nowhere, i was most convinced by preexisting romances.
- most characters had shallow arcs, but i loved the characters as written, there wasn't a dull combination to read on-page
- highly recommend the audiobook! it's a full cast
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Classism, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Incest, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Blood