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rchatterjee188's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Violence, War, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Minor: Classism
mallorypen'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? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This series totally hits its stride with this installment! It caught and held my attention from the beginning.
The relationships feel much more rooted here than in the first two novels. Han’s anger over his circumstances, his scrappiness in dealing with his enemies (and even his friends) and his relationship with Raisa felt thoroughly fleshed out here. I enjoyed his transition from loving Rebecca, to feeling betrayed and used by the princess heir, to finally feeling obligated and loyal to Raisa while still heartsick for her.
Raisa finally feels like she’s got a firm grounding in her personality, too. The earlier novels spent a lot of time on her boy troubles; this one does too, but she’s acknowledged the stakes are higher and has the training and perspective to rise to her challenges.
I still don’t love how closely modeled the Spirit folk are on Native cultures; that’s probably my biggest, ongoing complaint.
The relationships feel much more rooted here than in the first two novels. Han’s anger over his circumstances, his scrappiness in dealing with his enemies (and even his friends) and his relationship with Raisa felt thoroughly fleshed out here. I enjoyed his transition from loving Rebecca, to feeling betrayed and used by the princess heir, to finally feeling obligated and loyal to Raisa while still heartsick for her.
Raisa finally feels like she’s got a firm grounding in her personality, too. The earlier novels spent a lot of time on her boy troubles; this one does too, but she’s acknowledged the stakes are higher and has the training and perspective to rise to her challenges.
I still don’t love how closely modeled the Spirit folk are on Native cultures; that’s probably my biggest, ongoing complaint.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Murder, and Death of parent
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