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maryellen'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: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Body horror
clarabooksit's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Chronic illness, Body horror, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Torture, Mental illness, Classism, Kidnapping, and Animal death
harperphillips96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty and Vomit
minervacerridwen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
From the opening letter, I was hooked by the story. Events immediately took off, and meeting Nita, the tension between the sisters was immediately palpable, even as a lot of information about the characters was being shared. The pacing was inconsistent - suddenly it skipped seven years, and I had to recover from the time jump as if it had been my first ride in a TARDIS. Only to be dragged along with just as much enthusiasm into the next part, and the next, never knowing what the destination might be, but fully absorbed in the journey.
I adore so many different aspects of this book. The writing style! The footnotes (and the way the typesetting was somehow so cleverly done that reading them never made me get lost in the original sentence)! The cover! The poetry! The worldbuilding! And most of all: the main character, Lanie! It's such a breath of fresh air to have such a positive main character, without it ever feeling fake. Every other emotion is welcomed and even explored, but the way Lanie looks around herself in the world and LOVES made me want to read about her forever.
There was a lot of description and background information, but to me it stayed just on this side of balanced, enriching the worldbuilding. At many times Saint Death's Daughter felt like the book equivalent of a pastry, or a whole bag of them. Sweet, layered, with a hidden core of sharp citrus tartness every now and then. Covered with a suspiciously blood red mirror glaze and sprinkled with crushed skeleton flakes. (As you may notice, it is also one of those books that makes me confirm my love for language and stories and books in general, and renews my inspiration and will to write.)
I marked a lot of content warnings (and possibly even missed some), as this is a story of someone born in a family of assassins and torturers, in a world with a history of war and hate against neighbouring nations - but much more importantly, I do want to mention that in spite of all that, an incredible amount of kindness is shown throughout the story. It's about death, but it's also bright and colourful, inspiring and hopeful. I look forward to the sequel.
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
smileyblue'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
4.0
I was impressed by how deeply character-driven the plot was given that "new" magical properties are introduced at intervals. Despite some involvement of the world's twelve gods, at no point did it ever feel nauseatingly deus-ex-machina. Character deaths, too, felt in line with the story, not chosen to pluck at the reader's heartstrings.
All this praise aside, I found myself hungering for more of the first part of the book. In some ways, it felt like the heart of the story was with fifteen-year-old Lanie. Cooney's voice truly sparkled off the page when working with young Lanie's voice, reminding me of the whimsy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Perhaps this glittering nostalgia helped underpin the pain and nostalgia of the later portions of the book, but I wished to have had a bit more.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
hybridhavoc's review
- 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? No
4.0
I was also initially a little thrown off by wildly different tones in the book, but it turned out that there were pretty decent in-world reasons for this.
That actually makes sense. Saint Death's Daughter and Nettle & Bone are both firmly fantastical fantasy. Nettle & Bone was likened to a modern fairy tale and I would agree with that. Saint Death's Daughter feels like it's walking a similar path to me.
If you're a fan of epic fantasy or Sanderson fantasy and you come into this book with that expectation, you may be disappointed.
My only issues with the book are:
- The structure thing I've already mentioned, which stopped being a real issue once I reoriented.
- Action and tension are often paused for exploring a character's feelings/thoughts or touching moments.
- The ending felt a bit unsatisfactory.
Yes, Miscellaneous saved the day but granting mercy and being banished just wasn't what I wanted there.
Moderate: Slavery, Animal death, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Torture, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, and Murder
cloodnook's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Blood
displacedcactus'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? No
If you like books with rich world building, complicated characters and relationships, and you can handle the massive pile of trigger warnings, go ahead and give this book a try.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Slavery and Death of parent
Animal cruelty/violence against animals:aardwyrm'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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Body horror, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Violence, and War
rcsreads's review against another edition
Plus 635 pages for part one of a trilogy is too long unless you're Robin Hobb!
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, and Death of parent