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emily_mh's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There are lots of things I liked about this one. The plot got going right away - by the literal 60th page I was deep in an Indian Jones type mission along with the main character, Rags. I liked the writing style and loved the concept of the Great Parable and the direction this gave the story. The magic - mirrorcraft - was unique and fascinating and was deeply intwined in the plot. Finally, for the most part, the main romance was written well.
There were, however, some kind of important things I didn't like. The middle section of this book was BLOATED. The pacing was incredibly slow, which was a huge disappointment after the firecracker start. This book really didn't need 500+ pages to tell its story. I would have liked the characters to feel a little more rounded, especially given the time we spend with them. The side romances felt a little contrived. Finally, and perhaps most jarringly, this was written as a standalone but does not feel like one. Everything felt so unfinished by the end that I felt like I had another two books to go. I understand that the authors have more ideas for more books in this world, but I think this should have been the first in a planned series from the get go.
Overall though the book was fine and I look forward to what the two authors bring out in the future.
There were, however, some kind of important things I didn't like. The middle section of this book was BLOATED. The pacing was incredibly slow, which was a huge disappointment after the firecracker start. This book really didn't need 500+ pages to tell its story. I would have liked the characters to feel a little more rounded, especially given the time we spend with them. The side romances felt a little contrived. Finally, and perhaps most jarringly, this was written as a standalone but does not feel like one. Everything felt so unfinished by the end that I felt like I had another two books to go. I understand that the authors have more ideas for more books in this world, but I think this should have been the first in a planned series from the get go.
Overall though the book was fine and I look forward to what the two authors bring out in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
jmross10's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Lots of swearing. It makes sense for the character but it’s something to be aware of if you’re a young reader or considering it for a younger audience.paigemandia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
if i do not get a sequel to this book i will scream!!!! please i am manifesting it so intensely i need more of this motley crew 😭😭😭😭 i really really enjoyed this one!! the syntax and writing style took a while for me to get used to because it was a lot of fragmented sentences and super short sentences so i wasn’t quite vibing with that. but i loved the main characters so much—especially rags, tal, and inis. ugh inis is so powerful i adore her. HOWEVER why TF did i not get a tal pov PLEASE i am begging you give me a tal pov as a little treat. i deserve it. anyways this is literally not a review i finished this book 3 seconds ago and im just emotional and rambling. but yes i loved the plot, it was VERY fast paced so if you don’t like down-time in books, this is a perfect one for you. the chapters are also insanely short. um yeah id die for rags and tal in about a millisecond i love them so much and i need more of them!!!!!! i wanna see rags find his little beastie friend and there’s just so many loose ends that are perfect for a sequel. so please. also CHECK THE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE IN THE BACK BEFORE READING bc i was saying literally every single name wrong in my head and it was too late to turn back when i saw the pronunciation guide 😪😪
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
aardwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
There's a good book in here, but it's 200 pages shorter with an actual ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts
spiritedfaraway's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? N/A
4.0
This book is what you get when you mix dark humor, a quest, advanced machinery, magic and a queer slowburn warrior prince/pragmatic thief romance together and I absolutely adored it! It also doesn't hurt that there is lots of diversity in the cast of main characters.
"They only problem was that Rag's couldn't think of any story or rhyme where a human shook hands with a fae and came out on top."
I will say that Rags' point of view was my favorite. Rags is my grumpy son and he needs to be protected at all costs, okay? I have such a soft spot for grumpy and sarcastic characters and the people that love them. Which brings me to my brand new OTP: Shining Talon and Rags! All the scenes with them were *chef's kiss* and I would scream in joy if we got Shining Talon's point of view in the next book!
The only thing about this book that wasn't my favorite was how I probably would have enjoyed this more if it was just from a couple point of views, instead of five. Which isn't to say I hated the other point of views, I just wasn't as engaged in them as I was with Rags'. But that's totally a me thing.
Overall, I found this to be an amazingly fun beginning and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. Because I seriously need more Rags and Shining Talon and the fact that there isn’t any fanfic for them is a shame lol
"They only problem was that Rag's couldn't think of any story or rhyme where a human shook hands with a fae and came out on top."
I will say that Rags' point of view was my favorite. Rags is my grumpy son and he needs to be protected at all costs, okay? I have such a soft spot for grumpy and sarcastic characters and the people that love them. Which brings me to my brand new OTP: Shining Talon and Rags! All the scenes with them were *chef's kiss* and I would scream in joy if we got Shining Talon's point of view in the next book!
The only thing about this book that wasn't my favorite was how I probably would have enjoyed this more if it was just from a couple point of views, instead of five. Which isn't to say I hated the other point of views, I just wasn't as engaged in them as I was with Rags'. But that's totally a me thing.
Overall, I found this to be an amazingly fun beginning and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. Because I seriously need more Rags and Shining Talon and the fact that there isn’t any fanfic for them is a shame lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death and Infertility
gracew's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
A lot happens in this book. Like a lot. And most of it doesn't wrap up at all. This would have great benefited from being significantly slowed down with less characters being thrown at us midway through the book. With the exception of Rags and Shining, every single romance felt entirely too fast and without much growth. It feels like they were trying to do a duology and so they crammed the first and second book together. I have no idea what to expect from a sequel which I probably won't read anyway. There just wasn't enough attention focused on growth beyond Rags I felt and I just didn't care for most of the rest of the cast. The world building was somewhat slapdash as well. I wanted to like this book, I started out liking this book, but it just didn't work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Blood