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maelikesbooks'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? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Body horror
gayghostprince'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, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Grief
anni_swanilda'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
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Grief
ok7a's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
emilypete17's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
lavendera_'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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
aardwyrm'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: Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
entazis'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? Yes
5.0
The story explores the ideas of free will, identity and agency. It also talks about corrupt governments and revolutions. Of loneliness and grief. It plays with old tropes (the smuggler, the missing wife, the mad scientist who is also a tyrant, the princess in the tower) and gives us something new which I specifically liked. And while I guessed something important from the beginning, the way character came to the answers was fun, giving us important worldbuilding blocks, and there was still something that managed to surprise me.
All in all, a lot of fun with a weird world where constructs of dead animal bodies walk around governing people.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Gore and Grief
zsenzsen's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, and Death
catastrophic's review against another edition
3.5
The good? The magic, wow. Very original, never heard of things like it before. It's necromancy, Frankenstein, with so much more depth. I did find it annoying how we're given no framework for this magic - contrast to a system like Sanderson's where there's always strcture built in. A good and evil, or 10 kinds of magic, or the four elements. It meant that some elements (like a talking animal, not really a spoiler) were less shocking. Even have some folklore references seeded through so we understood what it was and could brace for the magic.
The gay stuff was great. A bit hamfisted with their relationship, but it was two queer women who already knew that they were queer having genuine normal relationship problems not related to their queerness
I also liked the characterisation, especially Lin. I liked that she - and boat guy, forgot the name - was good at certain things but also clearly bad at others, and in ways that I havent seen in other characters. Like obviously they're tenacious, courageous, and ambitious. What protagonists arent? But we so clearly see that boat guy is only good at being a smuggler, so he's not good at other stuff. and his unique skill of lying cleverly is well-portrayed and I really enjoyed that tension. Lin's ability to read people's expressions and, similarly, manipulate, was great. I was sad that there were no grey characters, we had the Good Protagonists and Bad Baddies (they teased with making Lin and boat guy selfish but they never really were).
I almost stopped reading though because of how it was written. Lots of telling not showing, especially in the introduction of boat guy. Problems i mentioned before with how magic was introduced and seeded in. I kind of saw the twists coming. But i pulled through with the incredible magic and unique characters
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Blood