kylosten'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: Classism, Xenophobia, and Addiction
Moderate: Slavery, Sexual content, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Racial slurs
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts
miraileah'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: Addiction, Child abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Physical abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
ewinnk'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
Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Classism
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child death, Medical content, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content
tahsintries's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Torture
Moderate: Grief, Slavery, Genocide, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Gore, and Racism
beldaran1224'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
One thing I loved about this book is that the setting - which is otherwise brutal and filled with oppression, is completely queernormative & gender equal. Additionally, though the world is highly stratified according to a blood-based caste system that is an allegory for racial inequities in our own world, there is no anti-blackness in this book. All of the characters are Black, and you'll find no negative language about features associated with Black-ness at all. It just goes to show that you can engage with real-life oppression without re-traumatizing those suffering from those systems of oppression - I have a lot of respect for el-Arifi for managing this.
The characters are fascinating, and we continue to learn more about them and their pasts, while exploring the ways in which they are changing and responding to the events of the book. You'll find multi-faceted characters here. Both of our main characters have their flaws, but I was invested in them from the beginning. There's a surprising amount of mystery in the book, which I think is handled better than average for an epic fantasy book.
I think el-Arifi manages to juggle the personal stories extremely well with the epic, sweeping political events taking place, and this reinforces the book's core message about inequities - that the personal IS political. The setting is fascinating - we don't get to see much in the first book, which takes place almost exclusively in the city we start in, and I'm excited to (hopefully) see more in the second book.
In short, the moment I finished this book, I decided I couldn't wait for my library to receive the recently published second installment and went out and bought it myself. (And I'll still check it out when my library gets it, because this author deserves the circulation!)
Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child abuse, Addiction, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
moonchild_cos'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
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Ableism, Alcohol, Genocide, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Grief, Vomit, War, Body shaming, Bullying, and Sexual content
bookcaptivated'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, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, Slavery, Ableism, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content and Stalking
just_one_more_paige'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Grief, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Violence, Child death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship
_james_'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
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Torture
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cursing, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Excrement, and Toxic friendship