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noranne's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.75
This book was definitely well-written. The story is interesting and at times could keep me turning pages to see where it went. And I could see people really loving this book. But did I enjoy this book? No, not at all. I struggled to finish it, I had to put it aside for a couple weeks around the halfway point before I decided if I could stomach it or not. This book has three main POV characters. Two of them are fucking terrible. I don't mean like grimdark/morally gray, I mean like absolutely fucking disgustingly terrible. We meet one character right away partaking in cannibalism. The other has such gems as being sexually aroused by fucking her lover while he is covered in the blood of children. This book is gruesome. The third main character is a more standard fantasy protagonist, and his story had no relation to the others. It was set on what seemed like a different world and/or far in the future, and I found it very frustrating to be bouncing back and forth between these wholly unrelated sections with no hint of how they would relate and such a jarring shift in tone. In the end, the connection is explained, but I felt it was delayed too long and instead of feeling like pieces falling into place it was like, oh okay, finally, why didn't you just say so?
And it was long. SO long. Parts of it really just dragged and dragged and got repetitive. I felt like this was either a way-too-long prologue for a series or should have been several books on its own. As it is, it intersperses weird amounts of time compression and then slow, detailed events. There were several editing/grammar errors as well, which isn't a big deal but does always throw me out of the story.
As far as I can tell, the character who we spend the most time with in this book, an absolute sicko, appears to be the main antagonist of the series? And while I appreciate fleshing out the villain, this was too much. Too much time in his head, too much graphic detail, too much gore and filth. I don't consider myself a prude, I've read plenty of stories with tragic events and evil characters and so on, but this was too much.
I will not be continuing with this series.
And it was long. SO long. Parts of it really just dragged and dragged and got repetitive. I felt like this was either a way-too-long prologue for a series or should have been several books on its own. As it is, it intersperses weird amounts of time compression and then slow, detailed events. There were several editing/grammar errors as well, which isn't a big deal but does always throw me out of the story.
As far as I can tell, the character who we spend the most time with in this book, an absolute sicko, appears to be the main antagonist of the series? And while I appreciate fleshing out the villain, this was too much. Too much time in his head, too much graphic detail, too much gore and filth. I don't consider myself a prude, I've read plenty of stories with tragic events and evil characters and so on, but this was too much.
I will not be continuing with this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism
theodorebrovinsky's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
Such an amazing debut novel. Each character, both women and men, is written to perfection. Character development plays an important roll; I found myself rooting for both the hero and the villain and many of the side characters (both ‘good’ and ‘bad’). If you want a sometimes dark and gruesome, but also at times inspiring, hopeful, and clever book with lots of action and adventure, and entertaining and loveable characters, then please read this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol
mpeteuil's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
It's incredible that this is an indie without all the resources that a big name publisher brings. In the total universe of books, this is probably a 5, but I can't help but compare it to other books I've rated 5 and in that respect I'm conflicted, because it's just not there for me. I know Mark Lawrence, doesn't think I should be doing that (not quite what he said, I'm extrapolating), but it's hard not to. I have to go with what I think, which is probably 4.25-4.5 due to a few minor things.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent