kat1105's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Child death, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
mycology's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall this was a fantastic read. I really had fun with it and it was a great choice for getting back into the habit of reading.
Positives:
- El is a well rounded character who is easy for the reader to like despite her being disliked by other characters.
- The premise and plot is enjoyable and easy to get hooked into.
- The worldbuilding is fantastic. It’s woven into the text so well it never feels like slogging through pages and pages of lore.
- It’s funny at times without taking away from the atmosphere.
- A great stepping point between YA and adult fantasy
Negatives (nit-picking here, the book was great)
- I dislike El’s relationship with Orion towards the end.
Spoiler
It feels forced to me that she’s starting to have feelings for him already. Or, at all for that matter. They just don’t seem compatible to me. Also, small point, but El mentions wanting kids badly at one point, which feels so out of character for her. Maybe later depending on how she’s developed, but it just didn’t seem right to me.<\spoiler> - I desperately wish there was any queer rep at all
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Grief
applezing's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence
squinnittowinit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
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
4.5
A very charming story that was both witty and suspenseful, alternating between detailed world building, dry humor, and well-timed dramatic reveals. Magic weaves with science to create a very unique setting that acts as a character unto itself.
Naomi Novik's story makes poignant remarks on prevalent real-world topics such as classism and privilege, through the lense of a magical society controlled by a fortunate (and greedy) few. She delivers genuine complex emotion as her characters grapple with their anger, their uncertainty, and at the end of the day, their humanity.
4.5 stars because I'm not sure if the author hired a sensitivity consultant or not; there were a couple small moments I didn't feel great about. Additionally, I wasn't sold on the design of the school in this book. Not the literal design, but more the way it was designed and how it's been handled since.
Naomi Novik's story makes poignant remarks on prevalent real-world topics such as classism and privilege, through the lense of a magical society controlled by a fortunate (and greedy) few. She delivers genuine complex emotion as her characters grapple with their anger, their uncertainty, and at the end of the day, their humanity.
4.5 stars because I'm not sure if the author hired a sensitivity consultant or not; there were a couple small moments I didn't feel great about. Additionally, I wasn't sold on the design of the school in this book. Not the literal design, but more the way it was designed and how it's been handled since.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Classism, Genocide, Racism, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Vomit
emilymia's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Body horror, Murder, and Violence
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
I want to start off by saying that I did read the diversity controversy regarding this book and I don’t think it was intentionally malicious. That being said, I’m not a part of either culture that was being affected.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Death of parent
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Classism, Murder, Body horror, Child death, and Death
the_quickening_tree's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fantastic book, Naomi Novik truly is a master wordsmith. Fast paced and engaging- I've never read a book before that actually triggered and adrenaline response! Very witty, you will be drawn in from the first page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Vomit
iksme's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Solid book, the main character couldn't be more self insert if she tried, if you ignore all the cliche it's kinda a good premace.
The world building is why this book has a 4 star rating because the characters are iffy.
The world building is why this book has a 4 star rating because the characters are iffy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Classism, Gore, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, and Murder
trips's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
If I hadn't been listening to this on audiobook, I would have DNF'd this book. The prose kind of lost me at times, El's rambling was entertaining, to a point. Sometimes she rambles so much I would start to forget what she was even doing in any one scene. While I think it was written well, I know it isn't a style I'm super fond of so I'm glad an audiobook exists.
Prose aside, the plot is...ok? There is so much backstory to give us yet a lot is left out. El and Orion's relationship was the most entertaining thing about the book because it was straightforward and to the point. I enjoyed the plot enough, but I also felt like as things were getting better for El, El got more pessimistic about things, and it kinda weighed the story down.
Idk! Not bad, but not great. I definitely understand Dark Academia now though!
Prose aside, the plot is...ok? There is so much backstory to give us yet a lot is left out. El and Orion's relationship was the most entertaining thing about the book because it was straightforward and to the point. I enjoyed the plot enough, but I also felt like as things were getting better for El, El got more pessimistic about things, and it kinda weighed the story down.
Idk! Not bad, but not great. I definitely understand Dark Academia now though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, and Body horror