Scan barcode
cuteasamuntin'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: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Medical content
lunarkris'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
essieruth'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
steph_weigle'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
unboxedjack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
iane_reads'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Eating disorder, Genocide, Sexual content, Suicide, and Cannibalism
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Dementia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
msradiosilence's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
possibilityleft's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
erebus53'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
4.25
There are times where I wish I was capable of reading proper, honest to goodness, paperback books, but seeing as I'm bound to Audiobooks due to my infirmities, all I can say is OUCH.
Tamsyn Muir writes with a sensual love of words, that does not make the content of her prose accessible to most people. To say it plainly - she uses big words, and weird words. a lot. I am well at home in anatomical and psychological textbooks, and literary critique; one of my friends suggested that in conversation with me it would be easiest to carry a notebook to write down all the odd words I use to look up later... and even _I_ needed to read this with a dictionary nearby. It seems quite clear that the author was mauled or possibly traumatically wounded by a feral thesaurus as a child.
I'm sorry, Moira Quirk. Your work on this audio narration was ok, but you fail to catch the Kiwi parlance. It sounds SO weird to hear kiwi idioms in your accent (we don't pronounce a$$ like that) and your attempt at te reo Māori words was wince-inducing. Thankfully that was only one line.
I'm doubling down on my comparison from the first book. This is definitely like an anime. Great chunks of this book feel a bit like watching Neon Genesis: Evangelion. A good proportion of the narrative is in second person perspective, which definitely leans hard into the claustrophobic and unhinged aesthetic. You spend the first half of the book trying to figure out why things in this book don't tally with the happenings in the previous book. That was kind of cool and didn't leave me feeling anywhere near as confused as I thought I would. There were enough breadcrumbs to keep me from feeling too lost in the woods.
Upside of the audiobook was the similarity I was amused by in the fast travel; I was reminded of Douglas Adams's, Hitchhiker's Guide, specifically his description of hyperspace, and the Infinite Improbability drive. "The River" having weird brain melting effects on a backdrop of a woman's voice calling out time-stamps felt so much like HHGTG with Trillian in the Heart of Gold.
Many twists and turns, the reappearance (in various forms) of characters who were bumped off in the last book, the list at the front of the book of the dramatis personae (alive and dead) being actually useful, and a sense that you still don't know quite wtf is going on.. all leads me to think that the third book could go either way in my estimation. I'll have to see what it's like.
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship
Minor: Miscarriage
vaxis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The narrative switches between third person limited, usually during a flashback, and second person. Normally I really dislike second person; this is handled as though someone is narrating Harrow's actions and responses to her. It's not a narrative trying to get you to imagine yourself as the character, but someone explaining what is going on to someone who is having some memory difficulties.
The other thing I heard is that this is a book that gaslights you, and that is largely due to a lot of contradictory information that differs from Gideon and is clarified later. Spoiler explainer:
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage