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soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
cover2covertx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
This book was definitely a roller coaster for me and I really enjoyed it! The beginning was very dark and heavy but with the pacing being done so well, the author didn’t just have you sit there in the gloom and did a good job of giving you an awesome character to root for in Dawsyn. The world building was wonderful and gave you a really interesting and unique premise that you can understand well without info dumping which is a huge plus in fantasy (in my opinion).
The relationship between the two main characters goes from enemies to lovers but not in a super predictable way. I really enjoyed the pacing of their relationship too! It was very well done and the author threw in some good twists and conflict for their story without anything being too predictable. Their banter also was PERFECT. ❤️
I appreciated the trigger and content warnings because there were definitely some darker moments to the plot that I’m grateful for the heads up for.Overall, I really enjoyed the book- until the ending. I’m excited for the very big cliffhanger because that means a sequel (hopefully) is coming. However, after everything that happened in the story, there’s a huge moment in the last few pages that took this read for me personally from a solid five stars to four.
Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC to review.
The relationship between the two main characters goes from enemies to lovers but not in a super predictable way. I really enjoyed the pacing of their relationship too! It was very well done and the author threw in some good twists and conflict for their story without anything being too predictable. Their banter also was PERFECT. ❤️
I appreciated the trigger and content warnings because there were definitely some darker moments to the plot that I’m grateful for the heads up for.
Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC to review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
ccouey's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Alcohol
belreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
McEwan managed to surprise me by presenting a beautifully written fantasy story that had me hooked from the literal first line. Not only was this story so easy to follow and also presented a visually stunning setting, McEwan wrote a stunningly complex start to a trilogy, leaving me begging for more! Just the right amount of spice, paired with a darily lovable and complex protagonist leaving me with questions that I need answered in the second volume! I am absolutely in love with this story and cannot stop recommending it to my fantasy-loving friends.
Absolutely in awe. McEwan, I will be waiting patiently for the announcement of Book 2. In the meantime, catch me at the store, first in line on Sept 12 to make sure I secure a finished copy!
Thanks Netgalley and Angry Robot publishing for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Absolutely in awe. McEwan, I will be waiting patiently for the announcement of Book 2. In the meantime, catch me at the store, first in line on Sept 12 to make sure I secure a finished copy!
Thanks Netgalley and Angry Robot publishing for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Sexual harassment
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
1.75
Content warnings: sex, suicide, violence, blood and gore, confinement, kidnapping, murder, threats of rape, child death, injury detail
Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical ARC of this one in exchange for an honest review!
I’ve been struggling with how to write this review since I finished because I’m hugely grateful to AR for sending me an ARC, especially because it’s so rare for me to get physical ARCs given where I live. Unfortunately as you can tell from my rating, this was not my cup of tea. This sounded like a really fun, enemies to lovers romantic fantasy which I was so on board with and I was so excited to see how the author’s humour translated into a book. But I found the worldbuilding to be pretty nonexistent (please explain the existence of a mage who turns up to heal people whenever the plot needs it) or badly written and the pacing off. It takes more than a third of the book to get off the mountain and the journey becomes very monotonous. At times, it felt like a tool to tell Dawyson (and thus us, the reader) things about the world. The whole book is very much “worldbuild entirely from telling not showing” which is the exact opposite of the books I tend to enjoy the most.
The above I can forgive as personal tastes, as I do think this could be something that might appeal to SJM fans? (Though note I say that having never read her books, but I imagine they could be something similar). And I know the heavy immersive worldbuilding I prefer is not for everyone! But more than the above, there were several moments that really…raised my hackles? The main love interest, Ryon, being an animalistic half beast Black man? 😬😬😬 This is a highly overused and problematic trope in media. Particularly given he is for much of the book, the only person of colour around - in fact on first read through, I thought he was the only one until page 284. When I went back to check I did notice a brief mention of another character’s darker skin colour.
There were also several very…TERFy lines around genitals and womanhood that I did not like? It was rather odd. One of these I could have excused as me just looking too deeply and feeling touchy as I read but there were multiple throughout the text and they just added up and left such a feeling of distaste in my mouth which is obviously not the feeling you want when reading. For some examples, implying that to reach womanhood you have to have a period. Or referring to “parts that make me girlish will never know your touch again” as if our genitals make our gender. Of course all of these lines wouldn’t even exist if Ryon didn’t constantly infantilise Dawyson by calling her “girl”… They all come up in her responses to him calling her this.
So yeah, l wasn’t a big fan of this unfortunately! But thank you again to Angry Robot for the ARC!
Oh God I thought I was finished but I just remembered they almost had sex after Dawyson just drowned and Ryon had to resuscitate her. WHAT.
Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical ARC of this one in exchange for an honest review!
I’ve been struggling with how to write this review since I finished because I’m hugely grateful to AR for sending me an ARC, especially because it’s so rare for me to get physical ARCs given where I live. Unfortunately as you can tell from my rating, this was not my cup of tea. This sounded like a really fun, enemies to lovers romantic fantasy which I was so on board with and I was so excited to see how the author’s humour translated into a book. But I found the worldbuilding to be pretty nonexistent (please explain the existence of a mage who turns up to heal people whenever the plot needs it) or badly written and the pacing off. It takes more than a third of the book to get off the mountain and the journey becomes very monotonous. At times, it felt like a tool to tell Dawyson (and thus us, the reader) things about the world. The whole book is very much “worldbuild entirely from telling not showing” which is the exact opposite of the books I tend to enjoy the most.
The above I can forgive as personal tastes, as I do think this could be something that might appeal to SJM fans? (Though note I say that having never read her books, but I imagine they could be something similar). And I know the heavy immersive worldbuilding I prefer is not for everyone! But more than the above, there were several moments that really…raised my hackles? The main love interest, Ryon, being an animalistic half beast Black man? 😬😬😬 This is a highly overused and problematic trope in media. Particularly given he is for much of the book, the only person of colour around - in fact on first read through, I thought he was the only one until page 284. When I went back to check I did notice a brief mention of another character’s darker skin colour.
There were also several very…TERFy lines around genitals and womanhood that I did not like? It was rather odd. One of these I could have excused as me just looking too deeply and feeling touchy as I read but there were multiple throughout the text and they just added up and left such a feeling of distaste in my mouth which is obviously not the feeling you want when reading. For some examples, implying that to reach womanhood you have to have a period. Or referring to “parts that make me girlish will never know your touch again” as if our genitals make our gender. Of course all of these lines wouldn’t even exist if Ryon didn’t constantly infantilise Dawyson by calling her “girl”… They all come up in her responses to him calling her this.
So yeah, l wasn’t a big fan of this unfortunately! But thank you again to Angry Robot for the ARC!
Oh God I thought I was finished but I just remembered they almost had sex after Dawyson just drowned and Ryon had to resuscitate her. WHAT.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault