rinku'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
Spoiler
breaks up with Jaxon. She additionally gets to know that her connection to Jaxon was only orchestrated by Bloodletter and never real in the first placeSpoiler
to prison to find the blacksmith. I found this whole arc a bit weird since it wasn’t so vividly described, but I still felt the creepy atmosphere there. Luckily, they find the blacksmith and are able to free him, but they’re forced to leave Remy behindSpoiler
When our squad arrives at the cave, Cyrus and his people are already there and trying to stop them from reaching the beast. In the course of the fight, Luca died for Flint which was so sad. Jaxon almost died as well, but Flint’s mom saved his life. I don’t know about this, and this sounds mean, but I would’ve preferred if he actually died. This would’ve had a greater impact, and I just don’t like this “a character seems to be dead but isn’t actually”-trope. We’re again left with a mean cliffhanger that Cyrus apparently kidnapped all the children at KatmereSpoiler
they only get the key at the end of the book and not even the crown itself, showing how little the plot progressedGraphic: Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Sexual content, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
cady_sass'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
4.0
That said, I’m now 3 books and approximately 2100 pages into this series and I have QUALMS. Questions. This isn’t a knock on this book in particular but at the fact that having read this much there are some things that should be addressed by this point. Definite spoilers below, but at this point in the series you should already know all these things.
1. Hudson and Jackson (and presumably others???? Again, no idea) are centuries old. Why are they NOW, at 200+ years old, graduating high school? Surely there is a plot device that could explain this but it hasn’t been written. Normally it’s a high-school-forever plot line, due to being immortal and never aging and moving around forever etc, but this is a school for paranormal that they haven’t been attending for 200 years. WHY????
2. We are dangerously close to being “no plot, just vibes”. You might say “but so much is happening!” and you would be correct, but when it comes to fantasy some of the pillars of the genre are world building and magic systems and we get NONE of either. Some people are fine with this, I get it! But I want to understand this universe, I want to understand the factions, I want to understand the magic. 2100 pages of content and you can’t throw us a bone? :(
3. The spell/ritual that Lia tried to perform in Crave (yes I realize that was 1400 pages ago) still has not been explained. What exactly was she doing and why was it going to work? How did she find Grace at all let alone kill her parents? What about Grace is it that was the ONLY thing that would make it work, the gargoyle thing, the mate thing, something else? It does stand to reason that this could still be explained, but I the fact that everyone just accepted (seemingly) that Lia could and would bring Hudson back and never asked “how” is baffling to me. You can just bring people back from the dead? They should be more concerned about this.
3. The writing is just… not great. Has this stopped me from reading? Absolutely not. But it needs to be addressed. Just because a book is deemed YA doesn’t mean you have to write it like one. This HAS gotten marginally better with each book but it’s still very elementary.
4. This will be an unpopular opinion (probably) - I find myself questioning both the spice level and the violence/gore detail and the appropriateness for a young audience. As an adult, I read this and want more spice. The scenes are so unsatisfying in the way they are written, but they are written that way because it’s not adult fiction. The violence is vivid and grotesque, you feel those visuals deeply. So I find myself wondering if, even as it’s currently written, if it’s a little too much for a tween reader? Maybe not. But there’s a difference between 12 and 17, and my mom certainly wouldn’t have let 13 year old me read this.
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Classism, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Murder, and War
haleybre's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Genocide
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Car accident
ashleyvharris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and War
brooklynncm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders
sindakhelekwen'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: Child abuse, Confinement, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
litokeland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content
somewhereinbooks'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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders
amylynn44'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
4.75
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Violence