madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Racism, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Grief, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Blood, War, Sexual harassment, Torture, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Gore, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Vomit, Xenophobia, Violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Gun violence, Death of parent, Cursing, Colonisation, Classism, and Child death
summerspence'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Torture
Minor: Slavery
tinybluepixel'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: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, War, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Colonisation, Dementia, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts
instalovewithbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Empire ruined me. I thought Brass and Copper have, but no, Empire is where I broke 😭
chapter 46, where Dara is saying goodbye forever to Nahri absolutely devastated me. I was trying to read as my eyes are turning blurry with tears ruined me. I'm so lost on that, and I KNOW it makes sense but that does not take away how much it hurt to see them finally separate I really hope Dara got some happiness. My Afshin.../
This series has honestly been a trilogy where it has kept me wanting to read it over and over again. I have now read City of Brass 3x, Kingdom of Copper 2x, and now Empire of Gold once. I did not know what to expect from this book, I honestly felt lost through it, and it wasn't because it was a bad book, it was quite the opposite. It was one of those books that you really aren't sure what the direction of the story will take, and what will happen next.
I am very much glad we are getting River of Silver this year as a physical book because I must have it. I really need something more to carry me on as this trilogy has taken a year off my life, I swear.
Honestly, this review is a mess, and I just don't care. I love this book so very much, and I plan to return to this world as many times as possible.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Gore, War, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery and Gaslighting
Minor: Confinement
isleoflinds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and War
Moderate: Grief, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Colonisation, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Outing
Minor: Rape
just_one_more_paige'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Racism, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Xenophobia, War, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Medical trauma
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Dara's character arc is particularly good, but there's much to love for Nahri and Ali as well. The pacing is excellent, the characters’ motivations are coherent even as events become bloodier, and I’m very satisfied with the ending. It's everything I loved about the first two, but with more catharsis and resolution since it's the final book in the trilogy. The longer page count let the story take how long it needed, with space for things to play out at a wonderful pace.
This wraps up a bunch of stuff left hanging from the previous book. There's a storyline that has most of its major elements here though it wasn't entirely new for this book. This is definitely a distinct phase of the larger story, with enough that's unique to it for it to stand out, but more than enough in common to be a great finale. The big things I can think of that get resolved here are working off of ground laid before, so nothing is wholly new but the way things are developed and complicated makes it feel fresh. As the last book, things are wrapped up very well. The characters get endings that are right for them and I like how things work out for Daevabad as a whole. A few things are left open, but it's the openness of possibility for the characters who made it to the end of the book. The main characters are the same and their narrative voices have stayed consistent, with some changes in how they think about certain events. This wouldn't make sense if someone started here and hadn't read the first books. There's enough story here that if someone persisted after the first few chapters they might have a good time, but a lot of what makes this so good is dependent on knowing what the characters and their city have been through, without that knowledge the resolutions wouldn't be as meaningful. If you're intrigued by book three, please go back to the beginning and read the whole trilogy.
I loved this and I'm sad there isn't more, but there's plenty to linger over.
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, Genocide, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Colonisation, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Kidnapping and Sexual content
CW for eye injury (graphic), major character death (graphic).theespressoedition'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? It's complicated
4.0
HOWEVER, if I were to ignore the pacing entirely, I would give this a full 5 stars - honestly, the whole series deserves that! It's beautifully written, meaningful, really connects you to the characters, and I rarely felt like a moment was unnecessarily added.
Since this was the finale novel in the trilogy, I can officially say that I want more. Not because I felt like it was lacking (clearly, that was not the case), but I'm desperate to learn what ends up happening to Dara and I'd love to read even just a novella about what his life looks like after the events that take place in this book.
I hope this fantasy trilogy gains more recognition over time because it certainly deserves all the hype!
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Death and Violence
mandkips's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Confinement, and Grief
icfasntw's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
VERDICT: I really cooled down on this book. The first two featured a lot of politicking, which is always my favorite. The third book felt like part adventure novel, part "hanging out with the bad guys so you know how bad they are," and part wrapping up a bunch of threads that were introduced in earlier installments as quickly as possible. The result felt a bit rushed and didn't hold my attention like the first two.
SERIES: Overall, I think the series is all right. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books and I love seeing fantasy stories from perspective other than "Western European." My biggest complaint is that I wish some of the longer threads, like
Spoiler
the maridGraphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, and Blood