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puddleshoes'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Xenophobia
crinkledmochi's review against another edition
the plot and point of the story just fell super flat after the first 15% and i really tried to enjoy it
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Gore, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
ashleynp24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I loved seeing a strong woman as the protagonist and how her relationships evolved due to her nature. A reason I did give it a 4 and not higher was I wish the book was told in her POV, not a 3rd person POV. I feel if it was from hers, we’d get to know a bit more about her relationship with Ryon, and her thoughts regarding her experiences more. I do enjoy their relationship and the development of it, but I think it could be a deeper connection between them.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism
jayremps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement
shannanigans92'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death and Sexual harassment
emmsbookshelf'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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder
amre23'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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Torture, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
nobeliumreads's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Alcohol
soniajoy98's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
1.75
Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical ARC of this one in exchange for an honest review!
I’ve been struggling with how to write this review since I finished because I’m hugely grateful to AR for sending me an ARC, especially because it’s so rare for me to get physical ARCs given where I live. Unfortunately as you can tell from my rating, this was not my cup of tea. This sounded like a really fun, enemies to lovers romantic fantasy which I was so on board with and I was so excited to see how the author’s humour translated into a book. But I found the worldbuilding to be pretty nonexistent (please explain the existence of a mage who turns up to heal people whenever the plot needs it) or badly written and the pacing off. It takes more than a third of the book to get off the mountain and the journey becomes very monotonous. At times, it felt like a tool to tell Dawyson (and thus us, the reader) things about the world. The whole book is very much “worldbuild entirely from telling not showing” which is the exact opposite of the books I tend to enjoy the most.
The above I can forgive as personal tastes, as I do think this could be something that might appeal to SJM fans? (Though note I say that having never read her books, but I imagine they could be something similar). And I know the heavy immersive worldbuilding I prefer is not for everyone! But more than the above, there were several moments that really…raised my hackles? The main love interest, Ryon, being an animalistic half beast Black man? 😬😬😬 This is a highly overused and problematic trope in media. Particularly given he is for much of the book, the only person of colour around - in fact on first read through, I thought he was the only one until page 284. When I went back to check I did notice a brief mention of another character’s darker skin colour.
There were also several very…TERFy lines around genitals and womanhood that I did not like? It was rather odd. One of these I could have excused as me just looking too deeply and feeling touchy as I read but there were multiple throughout the text and they just added up and left such a feeling of distaste in my mouth which is obviously not the feeling you want when reading. For some examples, implying that to reach womanhood you have to have a period. Or referring to “parts that make me girlish will never know your touch again” as if our genitals make our gender. Of course all of these lines wouldn’t even exist if Ryon didn’t constantly infantilise Dawyson by calling her “girl”… They all come up in her responses to him calling her this.
So yeah, l wasn’t a big fan of this unfortunately! But thank you again to Angry Robot for the ARC!
Oh God I thought I was finished but I just remembered they almost had sex after Dawyson just drowned and Ryon had to resuscitate her. WHAT.
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault