singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Spoiler
If I remember correctly, there’s a little bit of romance between Nahri and Dara in the first book, and I started rooting for Dara. In this book, Nahri is forced to marry King Ghassan’s son, and we get to see how evil and manipulative Ghassan is. Dara is brought back to life to serve Manizheh, who plans to oust the Qahtanis and restore Nahid rule to Daevabad. HOWEVER, it turns out that Manizheh is the evil one, and when she and her forces attack Daevabad, ALL of the characters forget what kind of a**hole Ghassan was, and everyone is very sad that he’s dead. RIP. Nahri is, of course, a smart and spunky heroine and saves the day, yay!Minor: Death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Slavery, Alcohol, Classism, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book finally sees people talking about what happens when the heir to the kingdom, Muntadhir, falls in love with a man art arms. Dammit why can't you all just let them be happy! And wait, in the last book didn't we find out that Jamshid has even more secrets about his person that even he is probably unaware of...? I had to find out more, and I do wish it took less that 20 chapters to unfold! But there is so much to unfold in a place where you arrange marriages for political reasons, and when everyone is lying to each other - things get messy in a great bit hurry.
Meanwhile back in the small desert town of Bir Nabat, the exiled prince finally seems to have stopped getting regular visits from assassins. He's knuckled down in serious service to the community as an irrigator and well builder and is starting to bring prosperity to a place that was dwindling into the dust. Less said about magical water powers the better, but everyone close to him knows that he doesn't come up for air nearly enough to seem.. normal, and he's awfully good at falling asleep in random places and accidentally waking up having "found" a brand new spring.
And then one of his rich cousins turns up with a year's worth of taxes in cursed salt, that only someone with their bloodline can return to Daevabad, and if it doesn't get there then there might be military retribution so .. he's wrangled back to his home city, consequences be damned.
Seems that everyone is preparing for the biggest festival in decades, and also that everyone who ever wanted to attack anyone is waiting for that time to do all their "plans".
Nahri petitions her father-in-law Ghassan, to bankroll a rebuild of the hospital her people once used, and to be able to treat the half-blood Shafit there as well as anybody else. She and Ali are working to try and patch up relations within the city, but their idealism can only get people so far..
Civil unrest is at an all time high, and meanwhile, plotting in the background Manizheh has her own plans, and central to them is re-re-resurrecting Darayavahoush. Again. Poor b*stard. We get to find a bit more about the history and magic of the land, the nature of Ifrits and the Marid.
Oooh this gets messy. I'm not a super fan of battles, but I do like big reveals. It's tense and frustrating when you have enough information to cobble together what's going on, but the characters haven't been told yet. Why do revolutions have to be so messy!!? That poor library. That tower... hey people were using that! I might ned a bit of a break before I delve into future volumes.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
brynalexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Racism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Stalking, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicide, War, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Torture
madamenovelist'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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Genocide, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Gore, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Grief
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and War
redthistle'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
I have finished the entire series and I believe that this book was my favorite of the trilogy.
I loved the development of all of the characters throughout this book. Every character has both lovable traits and flaws. The development of the world, its politics and social justice issues in particular, are incredibly interesting and complex. The magic of the world is engrossing and continues to be a delight.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Islamophobia, Medical content, and Racial slurs
taylahevans13'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
4.75
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence