takarakei'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: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abortion and Sexism
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It’s a murder mystery set in a gritty world that centers on mining the remains of a fallen angel, and the world is split between the descendants of angels and demons.
No one in this story is truly good here, but the divide of Elect versus Fallen makes some worse than others.
honestly set expectations aside for who the characters are and what they’ll do/what they have done.
Spoiler
Very unreliable narrator.Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Racism
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Sexual content
broomsticksandmagick's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Infidelity
el393way's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
The whole thing felt like we saw a bunch of stuff happen but everyone was worse off in the end. The characters were wholly unlikeable. I found myself rooting for the demon lord and the demon lord only. The antagonists were excruciatingly awful which was intentional and I didn’t mind. But the main set of characters, who were on the opposition to the stand ins for the white supremacists and religious fanatics, were pretty cruddy people.
I will never relate to the dynamic of one sibling sacrificing everything good in their life to protect their mediocre sibling from any discomfort or hardship. The display of that relationship in this book was annoying because we never even got to see their relationship. We only saw the one sibling basically being a terrible person to save her sister.
Same for the love interests. We don’t see any of the chemistries in the different couples, we’re just told about their past or told that they’re into each other.
The writing style was well done and the pacing was nice. The narrator chosen for the audiobook, Dion Graham, was an amazing choice.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Murder
I would not recommend this book for anyone who is ex-Christian with religious trauma unless they are in a comfortable place with their past relationships with the church and religious fanatics.anahisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
because let’s get into it!!!! the descendants of angels MINING divinity from their fallen ancestors bodies???? Weaving the biblical into the western aesthetic so seamlessly??? HELLO??? AHHHH, HOW’D SHE DO IT!!!! WHAT A MIND WHAT A MIND WHAT A MINDDD <3333
ok gushing aside, my gripe with this novella is that it’s better suited to being a whole novel. The characters and plot were interesting, but the story was too rushed + unresolved for me to really get invested in these relationships and revelations. What could’ve been!
that being said, thematically she still had plenty to say + critique, and I’d love to see roanhorse revisit this world in the future.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
danapreads's review against another edition
- 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
First of all, the world building and creativity in this book is very, very good. I love the religious themes and symbolism morphed into an alternative reality that reads like a western. That alone is reason enough to read the book.
This book is interesting because it doesn't end the way you want. It stays true to the narrative and the complexity of a caste society rather than conform to the reader's preference. Sometimes there's no happy ending even when justice is served.
Celeste's sister Mariel is accused of murdering a virtue, and Celeste is chosen to act as her defense lawyer in a society where the fallen are always guilty. Celeste has forty-eight to find out who committed the murder, if she can even survive that long. Aided, or perhaps thwarted, by a Virtue, a demon and host of fallen friends, will Celeste exonerate her sister only to damn herself?
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
lyndann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
Moderate: Murder
sarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Celeste (our main character) felt like every other "Flawed Female" character we get in urban fantasy stories with her 'burn the world down' mentality for one specific cause. The same can be said for her love interest, he was very much the Spike Style love interest of 'bad boy but good for her' type.
I think maybe if the story had been from Mariel's perspective it would have been much more interesting.
Spoiler
Especially since both sisters are effectively murderers by the end. At least Mariel had a better reason. That whole, kill my boss's girlfriend because she's kind of mean was way to female on female violence for me. I didn't like that.Moderate: Blood and Murder
ofbooksandechos'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexism
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was drawn to this because I love fantasy stories that incorporate religion (be it a real religion or fantasy, I just like religious themes in books… despite being very agnostic lol) and because I really like the Between Earth and Sky series and wanted to read more from the author. I also wanted to try something new, since I’ve never read a western-adjacent story before, but unfortunately I’m not sure it’s for me. I’m not typically a fan of murder mysteries either.. which I didn’t realize this was. I struggle with flawed/unlikable main characters, so I wasn’t really a fan of Celeste. None of the characters really grabbed my interest, sadly.
So 3 stars for the writing, world building, ideas and social commentary, but not really a story for me.
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Classism, Confinement, Genocide, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Police brutality
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
Graphic: mentions of human castration, bleeding out Moderate: poisoning, animal gore