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moonlitreading_'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
4.5
The Ninth Rain is told in multiple POVs, both of main and minor characters. It mainly follows Tor, an Eboran who left his kingdom because he can’t bear to see his kinsmen die one by one because of the death of their tree-god. He is then employed by Lady Vincenza “Vintage” de Grazon, a forty-something scholar who is obsessed with researching the Jure’lia. The Jure’lia are these beings that attack the world and Eborans like Tor are the only ones who could fight them off. Tor and Vintage bump into Noon, a fell-witch who escaped the Winnowry. Together, the three of them discover things that could probably save the world or doom it.
The Ninth Rain was so good!!! Williams took her time with world-building so it was kind of slow but I enjoyed every bit of it. I’m almost always confused when starting a new fantasy book/series but that wasn’t the case here. The multiple POVs really helped with understanding how their world worked. One of the things I liked about this was that the Jure’lia were basically aliens and it’s very interesting that there were aliens in a fantasy book. There was a little romance in this book and I loved that it didn’t take the focus away from the story.
I really really recommend this book and I hope it one day gets the hype it deserves.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kiwij96'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
4.5
Quite a slow start which took me a minute to get into, but that's true of most adult fantasy stories I get into (the world is already established and I need a minute to catch up while the lore trickles in). By about chapter 6-7, I was fully immersed and entralled. Was it a bit predictable at times? For sure yes, but not in a way that took anything away from the plot or the experience. Everything written in this book served a purpose and came full circle by the end. Nothing was waated or overexplained, everything was well-paced and well-written.
Bit gory at times, took a minute to get into, and times felt like it dragged a bit, but I can appreciate the way it was written: to establish the characters, their discoveries, relationships, and to allow the world to reveal itself to the reader whilst building up to the ending. Very much looking forward to reading the sequel.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual content, Torture, and Religious bigotry
ingju's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
eldane'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: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, and Death of parent
chaos_positive'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide and Murder
uncreativeoops'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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
Minor: Self harm
miraclesnow's review
- 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
The first thing to impress me was the worldbuilding. It takes a bit to get used to as it’s unique mix of elements can be hard to wrap your head around at first, once I gelled with it everything made a lot of sense. This story feels very well thought through and I can already see the framework of how intense it’s going to be in the other two books but not being able to predict everything that’ll happen.
The characters were spectacular as well. These are my type of characters I love, flawed, annoying, absolutely lovely and just full of life. At first I wasn’t sure if I would like them all but Jen truly bamboozled me and I fell for all of them. And now I’m invested in them 🥹
The romances were also well done for the varying amount of time each gets.
I think there is only more to get excited about for The Bitter Twins and I can’t wait to start it. Except now, I sleep.
Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Self harm and Alcohol
ijustreallyliketrees'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: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Torture
Minor: Child death and Blood
lolaslalaland's review against another edition
5.0
In this story we follow three main characters, Vintage, a forty-ish year-old woman who is investigating the mysteries of their world: the monsters, the hidden history and an enemy that no one knows anything about. Tor, an Eboran who decided to leave his homeland to escape the sickness spreading among his people. And, Noon, a fell-witch. Together they go on adventures and learn more about this mysterious world and its long lost history. I absolutely loved Vintage and how she was this curious middle-aged woman acting almost as a babysitter to the youngsters, Tor had this gloomy sarcasm about him and Noon was just growing more and more into a badass and I loved everything about all of them. But what fascinated me the most was the world, the mix of such classic fantasy elements with alien/sci-fi stuff was not what I expected and I fell in love with all of it! I am eager to read Bitter Twins.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Blood, and War
zoelri'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, and Blood