kitsunasaur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping
bzliz's review
- 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
3.75
Lou’s journey is so interesting. She has escaped certain death at the hands of her mother twice now and she’s flirting with the darkness inside her. Even after overhearing the people she loves discussing her behavior and choices, she doesn’t realize what she’s doing and is becoming a pretty unreliable narrator. It takes a major incident (
Spoiler
unintentionally setting Coco on fireReid is also going through it. He’s grappling with the revelation that he’s a witch and the utter self-loathing that comes with that, plus his known parentage, PLUS his grief for the Archbishop who was practically a father to him. He makes a minor attempt to bond with Beau and I can definitely see them building a brotherly relationship despite Beau’s warnings against romanticizing the idea of their father and siblings. Reid also starts taking steps to atone for past actions that he thought were right at the time. He will be the light to balance out Lou’s darkness.
Coco also got some time to shine and I loved it. The book is titled for her magic. She is the crew’s in with the Dame Rouge and she is one of Lou’s tethers to keep her from descending further. She also finally kisses Ansel and subsequently breaks his heart which leads to a beautiful scene with Lou that really showcases the strength of their bond. I really appreciate the relationship between Lou and Coco; too many fantasy stories don’t maintain F/F relationships once the love interest comes in.
One tiny little side question I have is: what happened to Bas? Maybe I blinked and missed it but did he survive after the bandits attacked the troupe? Did they just leave him there? I don’t remember any mention of what happened to him at all.
Discussion of major character death under the spoiler. Don’t read if you don’t want to know and stop scrolling because others have not bothered to hide it.
Spoiler
Madame Labelle is captive after Reid and Beau break out of their father’s prison but that is not enough to give their mission serious stakes. She’s the oldest member of their crew and Reid still feels resentful toward her for giving him up. To really feel the devastation of Morgane’s reign of terror, someone beloved has to die and that person is Ansel. He was the baby of the group and the most innocent. He’s their little golden retriever and they absolutely have to lose that force of pure goodness to get rid of Morgane.Over all, I did enjoy this book and I’m looking forward to the next one.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism
cait's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
kat1105's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, War, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Self harm and Sexual content
mariekew'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? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Vomit
roaze's review
- 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
1.75
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual content, War, Misogyny, Torture, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, and Vomit
lauren_macauley's review
- 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: Child death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
mpbookreviews's review
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Child death, Cursing, and Murder
saurahsaurus'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
3.75
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Vomit, Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Murder
Minor: Torture
taylor_annotates's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Sexual content