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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The plot follows two high schoolers on different sides of ‘the seam’. They live in a dystopian mega city called Verity that is plagued with monsters. The south is governed by a militaristic ruling family that utilizes monsters to defend while the north is ruled by a business man who utilizes the monsters and has people pay him to keep them ‘safe’. The monsters are Malachai: evil vampire-like creatures that like to kill, have really tough skin, and a bone breast plate, Corosai: evil hive mind creatures that are mostly shadow and can be destroyed with light to the face, and Sunai: a siren-like creature that reap evil human souls only but without them starves and goes off like a bomb before continuing. Our main characters August, a Sunai from the South side who is adopted into the military ruling family, and Kate, the daughter of the businessman ruler of the North side, meet in a precarious arranged situation and end up on an adventure together.
My main confusion was over August, the Sunai, who isn’t really explained. The reader slowly pieces his situation together which is meant to be mysterious but just ends up confusing. He has tally mark tattoos that mark how many days since he’s last gone off like bomb, and these magically appear and disappear. He needs to ‘eat’ evil human souls in an unspecified ‘often’ and if not he grows physically and mentally ill. He has this adoptive family situation that isn’t fully explained but his two ‘siblings’ are also adoptive Sunai, and no other known ones exist.
I really enjoyed the story but it is clearly one of VE Scwab’s earlier stories and has a lot of loose threads. It’s cool to see how she’s grown as an author. I recommend the book but I’d read a world building explanation first.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Dysphoria
hoarde_of_words's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Eating disorder, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Child death and Mass/school shootings
maddy_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Abandonment
creepypiespice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Grief, and Mass/school shootings