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liokamino'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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
thysparklyreads'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
2.75
I know objectively that it's a good book and if you enjoy war/politics/strategy stories then this might be for you but I felt incredibly annoyed throughout most of it.
I just wish we'd gotten more of Baru as a human than Imperial Accountant TM but at some point I realized that's all we'd get and it's on me for continuing to read something I knew I wouldn't enjoy anymore.
Godspeed to those who choose to continue the series, may you not get scurvy!
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and War
missmali'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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
angievansprang's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
thesunthesunthesunthesun's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
My partner thrust this book in my hands yesterday with the request to read "just chapter one, and then let me know what you think :)". I finished it in 2 days (mostly because general life got in the way). I'm still reeling. This book is etched into my brain now.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism
becky_hofer'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War
hailstorm3812'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: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
abbyschalupa'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
2.5
The first set of chapters hooked me. Baru’s childhood is raw, detailed in rich prose and the wounds are eminent there on the page. Immediately, I was rooting for her. So what happened?
Unfortunately, the writing. Everything from there on fell. While the beginning brought the lens to focus on Baru, showing her experiences and all she endured, it felt like the writing style switched. Maybe that was the intention.
However, the writing no longer gave a lens into Baru’s world. It wrote from an outsider’s view, in black and white tone, as though a script were documenting all that occurred. There became an extreme lack of detail, we are no longer shown Baru’s world but instead told about it. The color went away and all became black and white. The rest of the book read like text for socioeconomic studies, detailing who said what, and what that meant, and what Baru must now do. All told, never shown.
Everything here is detached. I no longer cared for any of the characters, or Baru herself. She skyrocketed through the ranks, in ways that felt incredibly unrealistic, becoming arrogant, ruthless, and coldhearted. Although repeatedly called a savant, she ended up putting herself into multiple bad situations that were entirely avoidable. There were several situations I saw solutions to, but this savant never saw coming, and gave stern replies to people she supposedly cared about, only to never see them again before they died. It became incredibly frustrating.
I debated quitting halfway. Instead I skipped through chunks of chapters, glad to not have tried reading through them. It felt more like dragging through socioeconomic dense text compared to reading. Far more detached telling then showing. I ended the book disappointed that with such a great start, I never could get hooked back into the story or the character again. Unfortunately, the writing took such a detached and reporter like stance that I found no possibility of drawing further into the story, caring about the characters, or getting further invested. A huge bummer for me.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism
aileron'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: Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
kingcrookback's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Outing