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mollymoll44's review against another edition
3.5
First off, this is NOT YA appropriate. There's so many SA mentions/threats/complications, as well as a good amount of torture. I'm not sure why some things get labeled as YA when the majority of the book is about not age appropriate topics, other than that it's a younger female protagonist. But that's my grievance with how the book is labeled and promoted, not against the content.
Nothing was terrible, but I didn't connect with the pacing or big twist. I also find that books where the fmc continuously only gets by from help fromthe mmc/love interest fall flat for me. I kept waiting for her to learn to be self sufficient, but she couldn't do jack by herself.
The big twist at the end: this is a personal preference, but I find giant twists where there wasn't any hints or easter eggs about the surprise kind of lazy. There was no reason that huge thing wouldn't have entered her inner monologue that is half the story. And I like a clearly defined power system. You go 'oh the powers the royal fam can have are elemental powers', but boom surprise she actually has unheard of healing powers because it's convenient for the plot? Ehhhh I'm over it pretty fast.
ALSO DOESN'T THAT MEAN THEY'RE COUSINS?!?! Not into it.
Overall disappointing, mostly because I had waited almost 5 months for this book from the library.
Nothing was terrible, but I didn't connect with the pacing or big twist. I also find that books where the fmc continuously only gets by from help from
ALSO DOESN'T THAT MEAN THEY'RE COUSINS?!?! Not into it.
Overall disappointing, mostly because I had waited almost 5 months for this book from the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
cehanzen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
ksb89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
The first three quarters of the book are slow. A lot of repetitiveness, the same scenarios, certain phrases repeated over and over again. But the last quarter saved this book tremendously! Huge plot twist and I’m ready to dive into the next book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction and Rape
jennn_3's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Rape and War
lboits's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture and Murder
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
jules09's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Ok, overall my feeling is: concept 10/10, execution 6/10. It started a little slow and I really thought this would be a 2-star read but the twists in the last third or so of the book bumped it up for me. The concept is what kept me going. I think the writing is pretty so-so, not terrible but there are many instances when things are over-explained, and some of the motivations/dynamics of the characters stretch belief. Dark subject matter was addressed in a very YA way. Kiva is an interesting main, though - the way she views the world through the lens of compassion and generally has an iron control of herself is something I found pretty unique compared to other YA heroines. She has many layers.
I definitely predicted a couple of the reveals, but I also was pretty surprised by some which made for a fun and engaging read once it got going. Interested to read the next one. I’m glad I read this on audio (though the reader was not my favorite) because if I was physically reading, I probably would have given up on it before getting far enough in to be hooked (the 2/3 mark), but for audio it was perfect to have it on in the background of chores, etc.
I definitely predicted a couple of the reveals, but I also was pretty surprised by some which made for a fun and engaging read once it got going. Interested to read the next one. I’m glad I read this on audio (though the reader was not my favorite) because if I was physically reading, I probably would have given up on it before getting far enough in to be hooked (the 2/3 mark), but for audio it was perfect to have it on in the background of chores, etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
The warnings sound like a lot, and some parts are definitely heavy (they’re in a death prison where abuse of power and dehumanization run rampant), but it’s still ultimately a YA read. I think it’s very comparable to Throne of Glass.kingkiller99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a tense YA fantasy about a healer in a prison who is tasked with saving a rebel Queen. This was a fun read! While it had aspects very similar to TOG, I still really enjoyed it and would definitely like to read the next one as well. I was slightly wondering if the twist at the end would happen, but still not too expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Addiction and Drug use
Minor: Child death, Rape, and Death of parent
taliaalongi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
vcthompson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
kylosten's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I'm sure some people loved this book but I was not one of them. I only thought it was okay. I saw some people compare it to Throne of Glass (I read and hated ToG's first book and never continued the series) and can see some of the similarities. I liked this more than ToG, though.
Things I liked:
*Disability representation. There is an amputee and a character with a stutter. I don't have those disabilities to know for sure but to me it seemed like they were represented well and respectfully.
*Naari- Naari was by far my favorite character and the one I wanted to hear more about. I didn't really care about or connect with any of the other characters.
*The relationship between Kiva and Tipp. I liked Kiva's being an adoptive big sister to Tipp and their interactions together.
Things I liked:
*Disability representation. There is an amputee and a character with a stutter. I don't have those disabilities to know for sure but to me it seemed like they were represented well and respectfully.
*Naari- Naari was by far my favorite character and the one I wanted to hear more about. I didn't really care about or connect with any of the other characters.
*The relationship between Kiva and Tipp. I liked Kiva's being an adoptive big sister to Tipp and their interactions together.
Things I didn't like:
*The repetition. I'm not sure if the repetition was supposed to be Kiva having obsessive thoughts or what but it got old fast and it added to the book feeling drawn out and longer than it needed to be.
*Predictable plot - Sometimes I can handle very cut and dry predictable plots but because of the repetition, underdeveloped characters, and pacing being slower than it felt like it should be, and use of tropes in the same way they've been used countless times before I often struggled to pay attention.
*The trials were a bit underwhelming. None of them were meant to rely on skill. Just meant to be impossible to make it through, which was the point, but it made them boring. High stakes (make it through or die) but no payoff.
*The repetition. I'm not sure if the repetition was supposed to be Kiva having obsessive thoughts or what but it got old fast and it added to the book feeling drawn out and longer than it needed to be.
*Predictable plot - Sometimes I can handle very cut and dry predictable plots but because of the repetition, underdeveloped characters, and pacing being slower than it felt like it should be, and use of tropes in the same way they've been used countless times before I often struggled to pay attention.
*The trials were a bit underwhelming. None of them were meant to rely on skill. Just meant to be impossible to make it through, which was the point, but it made them boring. High stakes (make it through or die) but no payoff.
I may give the second book a shot since it will be after Kiva's time in the prison and because sometimes the first in a series can be rough findung its footing but I'm not in any hurry to do so. I actually thought this was a debut novel, not the first in a series from a best-selling author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault