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rmperezpadilla's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death and Dementia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Hate crime, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol
fraeyalise's review
- 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
3.0
This is a popcorn book- it's for fun. Don't think too hard about the society or the world or how the vampires work. I had so many questions. If Xiaodan uses her powers with other vampires around, can she control the beams? Why didn't Zidan get ashed when she first showed off her powers in that tiny vault room in the archives? How does the blood sharing actually work? Why is everyone in town obsessed with Remy's life? Why does the first court want to take over a place with sunlight anyways? How does vampire/human peace actually work, and why does anyone want it? That be like humans going to cows and making an alliance. Vampires seem to have no weaknesses except swords? Why wouldn't vampires just take over humans? Reapers, yes, but reapers didn't have bloodwakers until fairly recently in the book's history, and even the best reaper is no match for the main vamps. If this was a movie, I'd be yelling at the screen. Eventually I had to turn my brain off manually and realize this is a fun anime-style story. It is meant to be a fun turn your brain off kind of thing. Don't think about anything too much and you'll have a much better time.
I think it could have been shorter, or more streamlined (or both). Also everyone has too many names and they are interchanged randomly, so it was hard for me to follow who was who.
The strongest parts for me were when Remy and the couple finally got together. Those scenes are steamy and powerfully written. I wish there was more of their relationships building, and less of all the other stuff. Loved the polyamory rep. Very consensual and respectful.
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Grief
laios'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: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Slavery
kestrelfire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
betweentheshelves'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
There is some excellent romantic chemistry between the three main characters, and I liked the detective/mystery energy that the rot investigation brought. I do think overall, the book is a little longer than it needs to be because it feels like it drags a bit at the end. There's a pretty good hook for the sequel, so I might actually pick that one up to see where the story goes next!
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
bibliosaurier's review against another edition
5.0
This is exactly my kind of book. Adult high fantasy with a complex plot (including fantasy politics!!) and world building, loveable, well developed characters, and some queer (!) romance.
Then there are the topics of love and respect. Remy learning that he's worthy of love. One of my favourite tropes in media.
And I should probably mention that the vibes are immaculate as well. So is the magic/ science system (fantasy world building!)
I’m trying to hold back my rambles here, I meant to make this short, but oh well, here I am.
Mainly, what I’m trying to say is, if you like fantasy politics, and vampires, and fight scenes, and found family, and poly romance, and queer joy, give this book a chance! You won't regret it.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse
theochick's review
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
lyraparledor's review
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence
kelsokake'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? It's complicated
3.5
It's an incredibly rich world with an obvious history and different cultures, but I do feel like it could have been explained a bit differently. I often found myself a bit confused about locations, titles, and characters. I really and truly feel like this book would have benefited from providing a reference point - a list of important characters and their titles and/or at the very least a map would have helped to alleviate a lot of my confusion. With how much time was spent naming specific cities and their distance from each other, a map would have really helped to put things into perspective.
The characters were my favorite part of this. Even though I hated him in the beginning, I grew to love Remy. He's hilarious, incredibly thoughtful and giving, and has the lowest sense of self-esteem I've seen in a long time. Watching his character grow and develop more confidence and self-worth was so rewarding.
Xiodan and Malekh's dynamic is so perfect too, especially when you add in Remy. Malekh is so sweet to Xiodan and has the perfect asshole/love dynamic with Remy that I absolutely love.
The plot was interesting and definitely kept me reading. I was actually surprised by the reveal at the end; I was thinking something completely different throughout the book. I won't say that this lived up to the high expectations I gave it in my mind, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and I've already placed a hold on the sequel in Libby!
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction and Alcohol
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