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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Miss Chloe Gong has done it again! I loved this book from beginning to end and thought she did an amazing job for her first New Adult fantasy. I love how the games in the book remind me of The Hunger Games in terms of having a single Victor win after the rest of the players are dead and be rewarded with a ton of money that makes one think will get them out of poverty, but a better life will always be slightly out of reach. I had a feeling something was gonna happen at the end so when it did, i was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t happen in a way I expected it ☺️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
jennipea382's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
trips's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was overall an enjoyable read from a purely entertainment standpoint. If I think about the world and magic system for more than a few minutes though, things start to fall apart really fast.
1) world building was alright but its pushed so often into the middle of scenes it gets really awkward and its easy to forget about what is even going on (this even happens in spicier scenes, it is very weird).
2) The body hopping/magic system of this world did not get enough explanation. The explanations about body invading was overall just quite strange, they seemed like Gong forgot to expand on how it works and was like "oh yeah I forgot to explain that, I'll do it here," in the weirdest spots throughout the book. I couldn't get behind it.
I do think its important coming into this book that it is inspired by Antony and Cleopatra, but it is certainly not a retelling. Anton and Calla are obsessive about each other and their relationship is pretty messy. That is about it in terms of similarities though.
Regardless of the above critiques, it is a pretty fun, easy read with some exciting twists. The last line of the book may leave you like :O! too hahaha
1) world building was alright but its pushed so often into the middle of scenes it gets really awkward and its easy to forget about what is even going on (this even happens in spicier scenes, it is very weird).
2) The body hopping/magic system of this world did not get enough explanation. The explanations about body invading was overall just quite strange, they seemed like Gong forgot to expand on how it works and was like "oh yeah I forgot to explain that, I'll do it here," in the weirdest spots throughout the book. I couldn't get behind it.
I do think its important coming into this book that it is inspired by Antony and Cleopatra, but it is certainly not a retelling. Anton and Calla are obsessive about each other and their relationship is pretty messy. That is about it in terms of similarities though.
Regardless of the above critiques, it is a pretty fun, easy read with some exciting twists. The last line of the book may leave you like :O! too hahaha
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Sexual content
Minor: Trafficking
anitaforthewin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Honestly I don’t get the hate for this book. I read TVD and didn’t like it at all and this is a HUGE step up from it. It was exhilarating and dark and the last page had me shook. The MCs are definitely morally gray, the way they continue to put their own desires above the lives of other people. This first book is so action packed but given how it ends, I think book 2 should be very political and I’m interested in seeing that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
charthegoose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed this book! It kept me hooked and I was excited to keep reading. I loved the world building and found the world Calla lives in to be a fascinating place. I also grew to love Calla Anton and August and I’m excited to see where their story goes next. I found that the plot would always continue in ways I wouldn’t expect which meant the plot twists were shocking and had me gasping out loud at times 😂 I’m not farmiar with the shakespear this books reimagines so I can’t comment on that area.
However I do feel some areas of the plot aren’t explained well or at all for example Calla isn’t actually “calla” and invaded the princess at age 8. The book explains at the start how her eye colour is unique to those with royal blood. However when people body jump their eye colour follows them so why didn’t Callas eye colour change when she jumped? I also felt some conclusions and loose ends were tied up quite quickly and seemed as if they came out of no where and weren’t explained very thoroughly. However I am aware there are 2 more books to come in the future so these may be explored there
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be reading the next instalment. Everytime I picked this book up I was excited to keep reading :)
However I do feel some areas of the plot aren’t explained well or at all
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be reading the next instalment. Everytime I picked this book up I was excited to keep reading :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Medical content
izzyluna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
soryualan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I saw so many negative reviews of this book back when I bought it that I wasn't in a rush to read it. Now I'm wondering if we read the same book.
I loved the writing and loved how immersive it is. The story has some plot holes, I was so engaged with it that I didn't mind. The whole book feels like a dystopian Korean/Japanese/Movie. I loved it. I can't wait for the sequel.
I loved the writing and loved how immersive it is. The story has some plot holes, I was so engaged with it that I didn't mind. The whole book feels like a dystopian Korean/Japanese/Movie. I loved it. I can't wait for the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Trafficking
dreadspawn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
📖
This was quite the book. I don't really know how to explain my feelings. I think it was interesting. I liked the magic system. The worldbuilding and the lore were interest. I struggled to like the main characters -- Calla, Anton, and August -- and I'm wasn't the best fan of the romance between Calla and Anton.
This was quite the book. I don't really know how to explain my feelings. I think it was interesting. I liked the magic system. The worldbuilding and the lore were interest. I struggled to like the main characters -- Calla, Anton, and August -- and I'm wasn't the best fan of the romance between Calla and Anton.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail
thesnarkside's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts