Reviews

So many parts of this book had me screaming “dang!” out loud. I thought the diary entries from Aadhish’s POV were effective, although some of the use of language bugged me a bit. The criticism of the British Empire was well handled as well. The writing was very atmospheric and immersive. And I'm very pleased for Henry and Shafeen that they are having character development away from being hypocritical nasty guys.

The main grievance I have with this series is that Greer, the main character, despite having got into an extremely exclusive private school based solely on her intellectual merit, is, to quote Malcolm Tucker, “as useless as a marzipan dildo”. She's just so dumb. I swear, for all her filmic plot knowledge and urge to Solve The Mystery™️, the books would be about half as long if she just got her shit together and thought things through properly. (“What we did together” CLEARLY implies a relationship, and it was already looking sketchy. Come on.)
Also, this quote summed up most of my frustrations with Greer's otherwise bland-as-plain-flour personality/narration style:

Shafeen put his head in his hands. “Greer,” he said, his voice muffled, “could you just, for once, not see everything through the prism of film. Not everything is a movie.”

In the next book, I think it would be interesting to have Ina come back. Just for funsies, y’know; she seems like she’s going to be an intriguing part of the next mystery. I bet she’s someone’s lovely nan now.

alexandra1999's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

4.75

ileesha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

i think i’ve desensitized myself to how bad these books are

katrinaahx's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

2.0

katiej's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This series is so amazing! I love it so much! I cannot wait for the final instalment. It needs so much more hype and attention than it has. It’s excellently written, so compelling and at some points scarily realistic

josiejumps's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad fast-paced

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

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