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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Colonisation, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Gore, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia, Classism, and Emotional abuse
kathigh86's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My first 5/5 of the year!
Hafsah Faizal is such an amazing author. Her writing is compelling and elegant. She is a master at trapping the reader in her worlds.
I absolutely adored the political commentary and how Faizal paralleled her world to the real world. I’m very excited to see how Ettenia evolves in the next book.
I loved the multi-POV in this book. We got a little bit of each character without giving away too much of their own secrets. I really enjoyed trying to guess everyone’s ulterior motives.
I have read the Sands of Arawiya duology. I felt like I was in on a little secret. It definitely added to my reading experience but not necessary to understand the general plot.
Overall this book was amazing. It was very slow in the beginning but once you hit part 2/the 60% mark everything is full steam ahead. I was not able to put this book down for the last 25%. So many things left unsaid too. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book!
Hafsah Faizal is such an amazing author. Her writing is compelling and elegant. She is a master at trapping the reader in her worlds.
I absolutely adored the political commentary and how Faizal paralleled her world to the real world. I’m very excited to see how Ettenia evolves in the next book.
I loved the multi-POV in this book. We got a little bit of each character without giving away too much of their own secrets. I really enjoyed trying to guess everyone’s ulterior motives.
I have read the Sands of Arawiya duology. I felt like I was in on a little secret. It definitely added to my reading experience but not necessary to understand the general plot.
Overall this book was amazing. It was very slow in the beginning but once you hit part 2/the 60% mark everything is full steam ahead. I was not able to put this book down for the last 25%. So many things left unsaid too. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Classism, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Trafficking
Minor: Alcohol, Genocide, Stalking, Colonisation, and Confinement
probablytoolate's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A vampire heist book with tea and pastries, what more could you want?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, War, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Racism
juan_adhd_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
There will probably never be any book that comes close to how amazing Six of Crows was, and though this book had promise, I’m sad to say it missed the mark. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, I thought it was fun and the characters were good, but there were also many flaws I feel that I can’t overlook.
For one I feel like the POVs weren’t distinct enough. There were three POVs for Arthie, Jin and Flick, and out of all I thought Flick’s were the weakest. There were times were I thought I was reading an Arthie chapter when it was actually Flick’s, which is weird because their personalities are almost polar opposites. I also feel like there should’ve been POVs for Laith and Mattheo too, which brings me to my next point.
The group didn’t really feel united or family-like. Especially for Mattheo and Laith, they felt very much on the sidelines. Even Flick, who tells us a lot of times how she finally found herself a real family, but it just didn’t feel like it, in my opinion. Now, Arthie and Jin did actually feel like siblings, and most of their interactions were great.
Lastly, my biggest complaint is that the actual heist went by incredibly quickly and in the end, it had very little impact on the plot.Since the owner of the Athereum was basically Arthie’s father, they could’ve forgone the entirety of the plan and just ask him for the ledger. At the end it was basically what happened: they were caught, and should be dead, but since it was Arthie’s father he just ordered the guards away and gave them the ledger anyway. It makes the first half of the book kind of pointless since all of it was arranging the crew and planning the heist.
There were a couple of plot twist at the end that did caught me by surprise and I really enjoyed how action packed it was. The actual ending, though, felt kind of incomplete, rather than just being a cliffhanger. I would still read the next book in the series, but if you’re looking for the next SoC, I don’t feel like this is it.
For one I feel like the POVs weren’t distinct enough. There were three POVs for Arthie, Jin and Flick, and out of all I thought Flick’s were the weakest. There were times were I thought I was reading an Arthie chapter when it was actually Flick’s, which is weird because their personalities are almost polar opposites. I also feel like there should’ve been POVs for Laith and Mattheo too, which brings me to my next point.
The group didn’t really feel united or family-like. Especially for Mattheo and Laith, they felt very much on the sidelines. Even Flick, who tells us a lot of times how she finally found herself a real family, but it just didn’t feel like it, in my opinion. Now, Arthie and Jin did actually feel like siblings, and most of their interactions were great.
Lastly, my biggest complaint is that the actual heist went by incredibly quickly and in the end, it had very little impact on the plot.
There were a couple of plot twist at the end that did caught me by surprise and I really enjoyed how action packed it was. The actual ending, though, felt kind of incomplete, rather than just being a cliffhanger. I would still read the next book in the series, but if you’re looking for the next SoC, I don’t feel like this is it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Kidnapping
elesapphicbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: War and Colonisation
lisashelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death of parent
myweirdnormal's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Murder, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Cannibalism
Cannibalism tag in lieu of a tag for Vampiric scenes.annhow's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So, basically this book is kind of a Six of Crows rip-off. But like... It's also kinda good. Characters were excellently flawed and developing, setting was pleasingly steampunk-y, plot was an exciting heist thing. But it mostly felt like Six of Crows.
The thing is, I've read quite a lot of SoC copies (in the hangover after I read the original), and they've all been kind of low-quality attempts. This one was actually good, even if it felt way too similar.
TL;dr : Copy of Six of Crows, but actually good, maybe read if you're in the SoC hangover
Bonus: If that's the reason you're here, I recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch), and A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E.Schwab)
The thing is, I've read quite a lot of SoC copies (in the hangover after I read the original), and they've all been kind of low-quality attempts. This one was actually good, even if it felt way too similar.
TL;dr : Copy of Six of Crows, but actually good, maybe read if you're in the SoC hangover
Bonus: If that's the reason you're here, I recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch), and A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E.Schwab)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Murder
mariahmmm's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Spindrift- tea rooms by day, illegal blood trade by night. In its walls, Arthie and Jin provide a refuge for vampires to safely feed without attracting attention from the Ram guards.
But Spindrift's future is in turmoil as the Ram battles to control and condemn vampires. Unlikely alliances and a deadly heist may be the only way to protect the tearoom and push back against the Ram.
A promising story that had a few too many plot holes, things jumping around, weird time gaps, and areas that needed polishing for me to feel immersed in the story or to fully enjoy it.
Jin and Flick had some real depth to their characters, and I enjoyed Matteo and Laith, but I never ended up liking Arthie which is a shame because she could have been a strong lead.
But Spindrift's future is in turmoil as the Ram battles to control and condemn vampires. Unlikely alliances and a deadly heist may be the only way to protect the tearoom and push back against the Ram.
A promising story that had a few too many plot holes, things jumping around, weird time gaps, and areas that needed polishing for me to feel immersed in the story or to fully enjoy it.
Jin and Flick had some real depth to their characters, and I enjoyed Matteo and Laith, but I never ended up liking Arthie which is a shame because she could have been a strong lead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, and Sexual content