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mothiver's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ohhhhhhhhh it’s so good. It’s SO good. Read this, you won’t regret it - go in as blind as you can, too, don’t even read past the first paragraph of the blurb if you haven’t already.
The worldbuilding is genuinely incredible, everything just hangs together so well - one of those worlds that just feels so… thought-through? Everything links together like a puzzle, and the web of causality is complex but clear. The choice to set the story years AFTER The Big Event is very interesting. It’s pretty LOTR-eque in its approach there.
Also, I loved the characters dearly, and even the ones who were shitty people I felt a lot of empathy for - that line about how the downside of being good at working out how people tick is that, once you do, you feel bad for them and don’t want them to die? That’s the experience of reading this thing.
The worldbuilding is genuinely incredible, everything just hangs together so well - one of those worlds that just feels so… thought-through? Everything links together like a puzzle, and the web of causality is complex but clear. The choice to set the story years AFTER The Big Event is very interesting. It’s pretty LOTR-eque in its approach there.
Also, I loved the characters dearly, and even the ones who were shitty people I felt a lot of empathy for - that line about how the downside of being good at working out how people tick is that, once you do, you feel bad for them and don’t want them to die? That’s the experience of reading this thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and Stalking
Minor: Ableism, Terminal illness, and Murder
kwthor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
velvetsilk42's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror and Gaslighting
Minor: Slavery
slighte's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Loved the fantasy world and learning more about it and its history throughout the book. Loved the plot. Loved the deaf rep - this was integrated really well throughout and echoed really well with irl Deaf culture! However it did feel a little longer than it needed to be, and although the story relies on the toxic friendship, it did get a bit tedious and I was expecting a more emotionally triumphant moment in the ending of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Additional content warning for drowning, a fair bit of this takes place in submarines/underwatermdwsn27's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Murder
cyan_altaria's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is so good. Hark's character development was amazing. Quest was also such a good character. And the way the god's memory was still affecting people was just *chefs kiss*.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Slavery, and Kidnapping
Doesscifi_rat's review against another edition
the story didn't really hook me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Slavery
antimony's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- 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
read 4 || jan. 2024 even though it took me literally 2 weeks to read this (i was so excited to bring deeplight to ireland and reread it here and i started it on the plane and then just. didn't read at all) i still loved it of course. i think this time around i was left with a new love for dr vyne she's simply so real. she finds out the leaguers are making a god and she's like oh of COURSE i'd love to help and she never even considers they'd want to bring it to life bc it's all about the fascinating science to her.
read 3 || dec. 2022 my favorite book ever is there anything more to say !!! i adore the world i adore the writing i adore the characters i adore the weird creepy frecht of the gods
read 2 || feb. 2022 i love this book quite a bit & i already have another review (on a different edition) detailing how it basically is everything i could want in a book so i will not repeat all that. i adore the world and i love the characters. i also didn't mention this in my last review but i really love the concept of frecht, like something to describe the eldritch beauty of a creature that is much too strange and unknowable to truly be seen as beautiful but undeniably is so anyway. i like that a lot. not sure if i have any more coherent thoughts but maybe read 3 will do that?
read 3 || dec. 2022 my favorite book ever is there anything more to say !!! i adore the world i adore the writing i adore the characters i adore the weird creepy frecht of the gods
read 2 || feb. 2022 i love this book quite a bit & i already have another review (on a different edition) detailing how it basically is everything i could want in a book so i will not repeat all that. i adore the world and i love the characters. i also didn't mention this in my last review but i really love the concept of frecht, like something to describe the eldritch beauty of a creature that is much too strange and unknowable to truly be seen as beautiful but undeniably is so anyway. i like that a lot. not sure if i have any more coherent thoughts but maybe read 3 will do that?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.25
This is the kind of middle-grade I love. I would compare it to the His Dark Materials books; not in plot, but the themes explored, the adventure and the fact that while the main character is 15 years old (and actually acts like a 15 year old, not 20 year old!) but there are still some dark undertones and themes explored in the book. These include toxic friendships, the power stories have over us, monsters (the undersea kind) and monstrous acts (perpetrated by the most mundane of humans).
I admit, it did take a little time for to sink (pun absolutely intended) into this vibrant, vivid world and understand what was happening and some of the book-specific terms like “sea-kissed” and “godware”. Once I did, it was a joy to continue reading and immerse myself in this world. Frances has also included some excellent representation of deaf characters after being approached by one of her readers, and sign language and deafness feature predominantly in this book.
I consider myself a total Hardinge convert now!
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery and Murder
lucymeg's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery
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