vivavia's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Bullying, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Slavery
leaflit's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Racism, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness
ajthequeen's review
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Genocide, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol and Ableism
serena_hien's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, and Gun violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and Sexual assault
szuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Racism, Classism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
whailey's review
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Trafficking, Torture, Grief, Police brutality, and Slavery
dreareads_'s review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Toxic relationship
andromeda_1998's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What is the book about (without spoilers):
Touraine has been a soldier for most parts of her life. She was a child stolen from her family and she was raised to serve the empire. But when her company is sent back to the land she comes from, to stop a rebellion, nog everything goes as planned.
Luca is the princes of the empire, sent to her rebel filled colony to still the rebellion. She needs a turncoat to reach her goals.
Together they are looking for a way towards peace between the Empire and the colony.
My thoughts about the book:
Like i said before this book is hat to review. There are a lot of things happening in this novel that I do love but that doesn’t solve my mixed feelings about some things in the plot.
The world-building in this book is amazing. It’s rich and details but we haven’t learned everything there is to know about this world and the author leaves the reader with some major questions especially about the magic system. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing since it’s the first book of a series and I cannot wait to read the sequel.
The writingstyle used for this book is impressive. It reads away in a good pace but I sometimes felt like I was thrown in a scene without any explanation of how we came to that point.
The characters aren’t badly written but i also didn’t think that they were done especially well. One is a princes studying from birth to be queen and the other is a luitenant who has command over her own regiment but some how both of them weren’t able to make a well thought out plan….they both should have known better for 80% of the book.
I hated the relationship between the two main characters. When I heard this book was sapphic I couldn’t contain my happiness but this relationships was a burning dumpster fire of toxic waist.
However I did love the plot and the side plots. This book shows us a good explanation of the sentence “Hey Colonizer.” It also shows how the europions destroyed all the different cultures that they got there hands on.
Favo quote:
“Too many died I a war that wasn’t theirs”
“Your rebellion would be another one”
“You’ll have to fight for one side or the other. Why not fight for the side that gives you freedom?”
“Because I can fight for the side that’s winning.”
“Winning isn’t everything. It’s how you win that matters most”
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
bookishbutch's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Rape