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jazdono's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, and I think the seemingly pensive nature of it is what kept me reading.
The story seemed to have promise—an overbearing government driven by an obsession of controlling the country’s “culture” and education could have led to some amazing societal commentary—and the whole time, I was excited to see what exact commentary was being made. Instead, it felt like the author was afraid to commit to a “moral of the story”, and at the end, this book was just a love story with vague world building and a clumsy attempt at discussing sexism, homophobia, and classism. At one point, I even had to pause to look up whether this was a Christian/ religious book (ie, propaganda) that I had accidentally selected, but then later in the book, it felt distinctly anti-religion.
The other subplots, especially “The Rat”, were painfully boring and underdeveloped, and the ending was especially disappointing, leaving everything feeling unresolved. It feels like the author had no idea where any of the plot was going aside from the love story, and this book wasn’t even a romance.
The story seemed to have promise—an overbearing government driven by an obsession of controlling the country’s “culture” and education could have led to some amazing societal commentary—and the whole time, I was excited to see what exact commentary was being made. Instead, it felt like the author was afraid to commit to a “moral of the story”, and at the end, this book was just a love story with vague world building and a clumsy attempt at discussing sexism, homophobia, and classism. At one point, I even had to pause to look up whether this was a Christian/ religious book (ie, propaganda) that I had accidentally selected, but then later in the book, it felt distinctly anti-religion.
The other subplots, especially “The Rat”, were painfully boring and underdeveloped, and the ending was especially disappointing, leaving everything feeling unresolved. It feels like the author had no idea where any of the plot was going aside from the love story, and this book wasn’t even a romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent and Classism
Minor: Homophobia
bellarosereichart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Took me a while to get into this but ended up quite enjoying where the story went, especially as some parts were quite unexpected to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Blood
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A stunningly written but ultimately disappointing story, which didn't live up to the wonder of The Binding.
I found I was able to enjoy this more when I stopped trying to understand what the hell the grand jeu was, and instead focused on the characters. I liked how this book seems to be set out of time; there are a lot of technical advances, but seemingly no electricity and everyone wears robes. It's an interesting alternate world.
I did event ally get immersed in the human story. But it felt so dressed up in this incredibly elaborate (and, yes, pretentious) game that it seemed to heavily favour style over substance. A lot about the wider world went unanswered, and although the writing was beautiful (I'd expect no less after The Binding), I just didn't care about the grand jeu.
Carfax and Claire are what I cared about; Léo and his total lack of self-awareness actually annoyed me a bit. The way the plot progressed definitely kept me interested (and I came so close to working out what was going on). But I just felt like this grand setting and lofty idea of the grand jeu seemed almost purposely difficult to understand, which actually distracted me rather than pulling me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Violence
klemistry's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A pleasingly dark story, this is set in a kind of alternative history where France has been taken over by an oppressively authoritarian regime. This forms the backdrop of a story about friendship, suffering and love.
I found it frustrating that the character of the Rat was so poorly developed - the story ends on such a jarring, incomplete note with her and Simon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Kidnapping
almond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was in a restless mood when I started this book, and the opening scene didn't draw me in. I almost set it aside, but once I got past that scene I was immediately gripped. Excellent narration by Sam Woolf and Sarah Ovens. I will look for more by Bridget Collins.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
melliest's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Suicide
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism
risaleel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicide, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
danicakvcs's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death of parent
lateromantic's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Could've been a 5* book if it had fewer twists, strands, characters. I liked the voice, it was kind of Arthur Koestler x Dan Brown. as a bridge player, I'm obsessed with the idea of grand jeu now. wish it had been queerer tbh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation
added a trigger warning for antisemitism because the persecution ofclaudiashelf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
❝ These are the times that scare her the most, the beginnings and endings: this is when the world is most unpredictable. ❞
Although it took me two weeks to finish this book, I still going to admit that I truly enjoyed reading this book. This sounds cliché but I’ll probably pick Bridget Collins’ book shortly.
Well— there are so many characters in this book, and even though there are many POVs from different characters, made it quite complicated and tricky to connect with any of the characters in this book, particularly. Because of that, I think one of the characters is not executed well. Not only were many characters that are hard to follow but I also thought this book was so slow, it just took me a long moment to get anywhere even tho I love how this book was so descriptive in every detail which I enjoyed. I believe, for some people this going to be a “boring” book but for those who love to read illustrative books with historical and dark academia as the main genre, this one is pretty fascinating and mesmerising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide