narsere'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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse
tobibi'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? It's complicated
4.0
favorite lines
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."" (p. 167)
"What?"
"You *did* bring a torch."
"This is a service I was unaware I was meant to provide," said Gideon. (p. 204)
Gideon said, "Did you know that if you put the first three letters of your last name with the first three letters of your first name, you get 'Sex Pal'?" (p. 274)
"How are you," said Camilla, who was a pill.
"I see you calling my bluff and I resent it," said Gideon... (p. 305)
He was peering at her through his spectacles. "Hey," she objected lamely, "I never said I hated myself."
"Evidence," he said, "outweighs testimony." (p. 336)
But then Corona started crying again, big tears leaking out of her eyes, her voice thick with misery and self-pity. "And who even cares about Babs? Babs! She could have taken *me*." (p. 394)
"Yes, you can, it's just less great and less hot," said Gideon." (p. 437)
Graphic: Terminal illness, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Murder, Classism, Death, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Slavery, and Abandonment
kaiyakaiyo'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, and Child abuse
mossybean'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: Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Suicide
sorchiereads'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
5.0
Moderate: Death and Violence
fate_of_ansley'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
4.75
Graphic: Terminal illness, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Child death
language_loving_amateur's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
It is epic and heart-wrenching and post-apocalyptic. It blends fantasy and science fiction, leaning more towards fantasy. The 9 Houses each occupy a planet, and there are spaceships, but the technology is in the background and the necromantic magic is what is crucial to the story. There are some locked room mystery aspects and you really have to pay attention.
The narrative voice is beautifully sarcastic and I love Gideon with all my heart. Be warned, this is violent and gory, which Gideon once described as "untidy death."
The one drawback that bothered me was that each character has 3-4 names and 2-3 titles, and will be referred to with any combination thereof. There is a character list in the beginning, but I was listening to the audio-book so it was not easy for me to go back and reference it.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
razzberry_pi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Additionally, world building and the magic system were quite hard to understand at first and the plot only really picks up after the first half or so. Likely would have DNFd if friends didn't love the book so much, glad I finished but likely won't finish the series.
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
wonderingintothevoid'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? It's complicated
3.75
Minor: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Child death
jodean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I will say the audio book specifically is done very well. I switched to it from the paper version and was able to follow much better
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cancer, Murder, Vomit, Bullying, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Slavery, War, and Self harm