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chasinggrace's review against another edition
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? No
4.5
The best book in this series by far. However - that does not mean it does not have its faults.
First of all: for an “author’s preferred text,” this was riddled with grammatical errors. Missing punctuation was rampant, there were repeated lines, missed indentations…I was floored by the lack of fine tuned editing, and disappointed for the author. Imagine going through a whole reprint a decade after publishing a book, just for there to be at least a dozen editing errors. Anyway.
Paige fucking infuriated me throughout this book. For the first 150 pages, I was BEGGING anyone else to be the FMC. Her decision-making was asinine, her communication was horrendous, and being inside her brain was miserable. Did she redeem herself by the end? Yes, and thank God, or else I don’t know if I could continue with this series.
And don’t even get me fucking started on the Paige/Warden dynamic in this book. I wanted to throw this novel off a cliff every time they interacted.
The political intrigue reached its peak in this story. I loved following the gang as they traversed Great Britain, and I’m truly excited to follow “Flora” to France.
First of all: for an “author’s preferred text,” this was riddled with grammatical errors. Missing punctuation was rampant, there were repeated lines, missed indentations…I was floored by the lack of fine tuned editing, and disappointed for the author. Imagine going through a whole reprint a decade after publishing a book, just for there to be at least a dozen editing errors. Anyway.
Paige fucking infuriated me throughout this book. For the first 150 pages, I was BEGGING anyone else to be the FMC. Her decision-making was asinine, her communication was horrendous, and being inside her brain was miserable. Did she redeem herself by the end? Yes, and thank God, or else I don’t know if I could continue with this series.
And don’t even get me fucking started on the Paige/Warden dynamic in this book. I wanted to throw this novel off a cliff every time they interacted.
The political intrigue reached its peak in this story. I loved following the gang as they traversed Great Britain, and I’m truly excited to follow “Flora” to France.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
nikkihill22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
5.0
Alright slow start aside.. I LOVE this book. It takes a minute to spur people to action, obviously it takes place right where The Mime Order ends. The DRAMA of it all. Jaxon Hall, the Seven Seals. The utter despair the characters go through trying to beat an enemy with infinitely more resources and power. It's such a wonderful contemporary dystopian sci-fi book, and I love every setting that Samantha Shannon depicts, and the vibes that she manages to evoke in each location. It really feels like the worldbuilding was well thought out and carefully considered/researched. Paige Mahoney continues to throw herself deeper into danger, but it finally feels like she's got the purpose and structure to be able to do it.
Also, the romance is finally starting to grow on me. There's much less of a power imbalance between Warden and Paige now, and I'm finding myself able to enjoy their dynamic.
I also love many of the new players to this story. Ognena Maria obviously was introduced before this book, but she is just an absolute delight. Paige's new generals in her Mime Order are all fleshed out characters by their own rights, even if not all of that is seen on the page, it's felt very deeply. Getting to know the Seals and their dynamics better has been great.
In general, just learning more of what has pushed each and every clairvoyant into the outskirts of society, knowing that they're just people choosing the best they can in their circumstances is so amazing, and feels very realistic. Mostly I just want to give all the characters a hug and tell them it will be okay. But because we are getting details and backstories, learning how Scion has done it's work to rout out clairvoyance helps make it more believable that so many clairvoyants would be willing to revolt against this massively powerful government.
And in true Samantha Shannon fashion, she takes every opportunity to punch you in the gut and tear your heart out. I loved it.
EDIT
This book has been updated with an author preferred text. The start of the book was much quicker feeling this time, and Paige made much more reasonable decisions with information she had, the characters are shown more fully in the page, overall a lot more showing than telling this time around and I loved it. The last bit of it goes by soooo quickly and is filled with delicious tension.
Also, the romance is finally starting to grow on me. There's much less of a power imbalance between Warden and Paige now, and I'm finding myself able to enjoy their dynamic.
I also love many of the new players to this story. Ognena Maria obviously was introduced before this book, but she is just an absolute delight. Paige's new generals in her Mime Order are all fleshed out characters by their own rights, even if not all of that is seen on the page, it's felt very deeply. Getting to know the Seals and their dynamics better has been great.
In general, just learning more of what has pushed each and every clairvoyant into the outskirts of society, knowing that they're just people choosing the best they can in their circumstances is so amazing, and feels very realistic. Mostly I just want to give all the characters a hug and tell them it will be okay. But because we are getting details and backstories, learning how Scion has done it's work to rout out clairvoyance helps make it more believable that so many clairvoyants would be willing to revolt against this massively powerful government.
And in true Samantha Shannon fashion, she takes every opportunity to punch you in the gut and tear your heart out. I loved it.
EDIT
This book has been updated with an author preferred text. The start of the book was much quicker feeling this time, and Paige made much more reasonable decisions with information she had, the characters are shown more fully in the page, overall a lot more showing than telling this time around and I loved it. The last bit of it goes by soooo quickly and is filled with delicious tension.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
oliverlang's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
mikatui's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Physical abuse