Scan barcode
zghutcheson01'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
trying_ceratops'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
The lgbtq+ representation was well done, especially as one character discovers part of themself in that community.
The story has political intrigue but there’s a ton of action to balance that out. There are lots of twists and foreshadowing that you don’t see coming until revealed.
The best part was how the author handled situations that are often tropes. I would expect a scene to go one direction because of that but the writing would handle it in a way that shows the characters maturing and opening up to each other.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, War, and Classism
erintempleton's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Trauma - these characters, especially our dear sweet Remington, have massive amounts of unresolved trauma, and it was a rollercoaster ride the whole time, albeit a pretty carefully realistic one. it never felt like Remy's experiences were shallow or trivial, and i really appreciated the way that Zidan and Xiaodan help him unlearn some of the harmful messages he was taught from childhood. A++ for that.
Tension - i mean this not only as sexual tension but also just plain suspense and court intrigue. there is so much to be drawn in by, and the narration really hooked me from the beginning. i'm a huge sucker for an outsider MC who uses humor as a coping mechanism, as it always lends itself to learning about the 'inside' world in non-obvious/cheesy ways. With the introduction of Zidan and Xiaodan, Remy's whole outsider bit gets flipped on its head, and it was really enjoyable to watch him struggle with that intimacy by fighting it the whole time.
the sexual tension was GREAT too, i just wish that their first time together would have been different:/ the way it was all wrapped up in
Soup - this might seem odd, but i noticed that 'soup-like' was an unusually common description here. in chapter six, specifically, it's used like three times in the span of ten or so pages?? so i just kept tracking it, and it came up a couple other times too. idk, it just struck me as a weird thing to say about fog or a dead monster. maybe Remy just really likes soup.
Ultimately, i'm giving this a 3.5 rating. It was really well done and exciting, but i don't think i'll read it again, as it was (imo) a bit too painful at times to read Remy's inner monologue about not being worthy of love. fans of Gideon the Ninth would probably really love this book, if that helps, and i would recommend it to anyone who can get on board with the content warnings! there are a lot of them, or there should be, so just be aware.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
psicose's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
kitkatkatdog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
biobeetle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and War
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
grets_reads'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
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Torture, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
nefariousbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
the world was easy to fall into, the characters and relationships make you squirm inside in a good way, and even tho I found the plot lacking, I'm not a plot person anyway.
Im gonna come back to the series and we better get a lot more Zidan/Remy content. or else
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
alicelalicon'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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Grief
thebrainglitter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Vomit