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natroze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Torture, Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, Blood, Vomit, Excrement, and Cannibalism
wardenred's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Rune, it's not as if we have orientation materials for new Arcana. There’s not a training module titled Shit We Keep Secret.
This one was a little hard for me to get into initially. The persistent mentions of the pandemic were one reason: while this is an urban fantasy series, I don’t feel like the story of this type requires this much grounding in reality. Moreover, New Atlantis is such a separate location. While it has humans living alongside magic beings, it’s pretty disconnected from the rest of the world, and its residents have wards, healing spells, rejuvenation technologies, and the ability to use infectious diseases to fuel magic. It just doesn’t make sense they would be affected by the pandemic the same way we were, so it took me out of the story a bit early on. There was also a bit of a disjointed sense to the start. There was the plot with the attack on the rejuvenation clinic and something big and dangerous brewing that Rune was being excluded from, there was the build-up to Rune’s coronation, and for the first few chapters, those felt like separate plots that were distracting from each other.
However, pretty soon the two storylines coalesced into one absolutely glorious, higher-stakes-than-ever whole, and I couldn’t tear myself away from the book. It was an absolutely wild, exciting, and heartbreaking ride. I’m in awe of how well all the time-travel weirdness was executed: just enough of a mindfuck to keep me from getting too confused, with the foreshadowing and reveals balanced just right. So many small plot threads from all over the previous books got continued, all the characters got amazing development, there were scenes that had me outright sobbing as well as banter that had me laughing out loud.
I very much appreciate how diverse the series is becoming. The author is very much making up for the earlier absence of interesting female characters. And just honestly, all the new and returning members have so much depth, just like all the continuously developing relationships between them! I’m just so in love with everyone in this book, and with how intricately the character arcs and the plot challenges are balanced. It was awesome to get immersed into the Arcana politics, to get to know more about Ciaran, to realize that somewhere along the way I’ve become a fan of Lord Tower (insert a spring of incoherent mega-spoilerific emotions here, because that one plot point, how am I supposed to even live with it, please undo it, arghhhh). Rune, Bran, and Addam continue to be the sunshine of my existence, whether it’s all three of them on the page together or any two of them.
Certain reveals from the past still have me shaking, and so do certain hits at what’s to come in the future. It’s so hard to talk about this book without spoilers, tbh! This entire series is so going on my list of the 2024 best reads. From what I know, the author is still in the process of writing book 4, and I’m wishing him all sorts of success and zero writing block, because I can’t wait. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll go buy the first book from the side series about the younger generation.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
abelh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Rape, Self harm, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and Racism
purplesapphire's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Death of parent and Pandemic/Epidemic
lim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Gore, Death, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault
codyemma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Torture, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders
micheala's review against another edition
4.0
Quinn and Addam continue to be my favourite characters. I loved the character development we get for the entire found family, and especially between Addam, Rune, and Brand - watching them figure out how to keep the kids safe and happy/thriving was nice.
I would say that despite the long list of CW given by the author, this is the least graphic of the series so far. While traumatic things have been focused on each of the books, the level of discription has shifted so that it was less of a viserally unpleasant reading experience.
There was an event at the end that I'm hoping gets reversed in later books. There was also a very warm and cozy event in the epilogue that helped me feel better despite the other thing.
So far, I'm really liking this series and I'm excited to see where the rest goes.
There is an instance of misgendering - a character has recently changed their pronouns and their aunt uses the old pronoun when discussing them, and has to correct herself.
CW from author: Drugs and alcohol: depictions of narcotic side-effects, underage and non-consenual usage; Trauma and gore: PTSD / panic attacks, depictions of past events, (forced) flashbacks, torture, (suicide) bombings, child violence, blood, body horror, torn limbs, impalement, mind control; Mentions of: SA, animal death, character death, cannibalism, eye gore, COVID-19, suicide
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Torture, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
rachratesreads's review against another edition
- 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
As a reader, KD has officially become one of my insta-buy authors. As a writer, I can not begin to express how much I look up to him and his writing. The words “masterful in his craft” come to mind.
I’m definitely rereading (and annotating) the other two books. I’ll keep y’all posted on that journey. Under the spoiler text, I will detail the content warnings for this book. If you do not want to know the specifics, please don't click on it. CW includes sexual assault, PTSD, death, misgendering.
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gore
jjjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Medical content, Car accident, Confinement, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, and Excrement
quirkykayleetam's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault