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kaylamoran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.75
Was it well written? No. Was the world building so full of holes there were times I genuinely didn't know what was happening? Yes. Did I eat up all the sapphic yearning and immediately want to read book 2? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Genocide
audreyreadz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Classism
salemander's review against another edition
5.0
this shit was so STRESSFUL oh my god. please i just want them to have their happy little found family why is everybody having a bad time !!!!!!!
to be serious for a moment this book has some incredible dialogue around war and how children play such a huge role in it and goddamn is it fucking devastating. just heartbreaking and all too real.
now please give them the chance to be fucking happy in the next book PLEASE
to be serious for a moment this book has some incredible dialogue around war and how children play such a huge role in it and goddamn is it fucking devastating. just heartbreaking and all too real.
now please give them the chance to be fucking happy in the next book PLEASE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
oliverreeds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
recycled_personalities's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
HOLY SHIT! Ok it’s like a little slow at the beginning BUT I SWEAR JUST KEEP GOING IT GETS SO GOOD. I’m immediately buying the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, and Alcohol
jupitersuns's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
I love this book so much! I would give this a rating of all the stars, planets, moons, and dust in all the universes and galixies combined because it deserves it!
I wish I didn't go through a reading drought where I had no motivation for the act. Because this is one of the best books I have ever read!
It is a shame that my family doesn't like sci-fi like I do because they are missing out!
And I love the sapphic storyline ... But I finished this on Valentine's Day so it felt like a punch in the gut for being single🙃
I wish I didn't go through a reading drought where I had no motivation for the act. Because this is one of the best books I have ever read!
It is a shame that my family doesn't like sci-fi like I do because they are missing out!
And I love the sapphic storyline ... But I finished this on Valentine's Day so it felt like a punch in the gut for being single🙃
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Blood
There are a lot of scenes where it mentions blood. Some scenes go into a deeper detail about what wounds are being dealt. So if you are a sensitive reader be wary. Warning: Chapter 10 (Sona's POV) is very gorey (at least personally to me it was hard to read)stressed_daisyy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
I *loved* this book! It was the most enjoyable read I've had in a long time. It was the perfect balance of humor, action, and emotion. The only flaw was the sometimes-cheesy dialogue-- which made the book slightly less believable, but overall, it had everything I love in a novel! Super-cool worldbuilding, found family, awesome sapphic romance...what more could you want? This is a fantastic debut novel, and I'm thrilled to see more from Mikuta.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and War
pixelpigeon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Love love love love gay gay gay gay
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War
antonique_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder
_slowfastreader_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I did enjoy Gearbreakers for the most part, but I like to focus on the bad and stating my opinions often comes off as roasting so here we go.
Also, I thought Milo could go die in a hole from page one. :)
0.25 stars is being docked off for the amount of times characters were described as 'growling'. A Dark and Hollow Star got a pass in my mind because they were fae and it was stated that their throats were different and it was more of a threatening I'm-gonna-kill-you (I don't remember much actually) sound than a tone of voice or grunt of frustration, so yeah. But as far as I know, everyone's human (well, apart from the Pilots obviously, but let's ignore that). I just hate it when characters 'growl' or 'purr', we aren't cats.
Also, I thought Milo could go die in a hole from page one. :)
0.25 stars is being docked off for the amount of times characters were described as 'growling'. A Dark and Hollow Star got a pass in my mind because they were fae and it was stated that their throats were different and it was more of a threatening I'm-gonna-kill-you (I don't remember much actually) sound than a tone of voice or grunt of frustration, so yeah. But as far as I know, everyone's human (well, apart from the Pilots obviously, but let's ignore that). I just hate it when characters 'growl' or 'purr', we aren't cats.
Also, this book could've been way shorter. Like, I swear every paragraph was just Eris or Sona (why did Sona never use contractions, it really made everything feel choppy) complaining about how bad Godolia was and how ✨angry✨ they were and how they'd do anything. Put that energy into developing the world and the side characters.
The crew! What a missed opportunity. Found family is by far my favourite trope, but I have standards and tend to only think of something as found family if it is truly god-tier. This was not it. I was disappointed. The only character I was interested in apart from Eris and Sona was Xander, and possibly Voxter but he wasn't really a member of the crew (Voxter has so much potential), but everything still felt so shallow and wasted.Jenny was so annoying and I found her interactions with Sona so uncomfortable. Juniper was an empty shell, I felt nothing whatsoever for Theo, Nova kind of felt like a cliche comic relief that wasn't even funny with nothing to her, and Milo was an insufferable and whiny straight boy (he probably would've been the love interest if the book wasn't gay and I'm so happy he wasn't).
#JusticeForXander
Xander was done so dirty. Justice for Xander. We didn't see his body, so I hope he's still alive. I still don't know why he didn't speak much, but way to kill off your only possibly semi-speaking or selectively mute character for shock value. And I didn't feel sad, because I didn't know much about him. I just felt frustrated at the author. But he was probably one of the least annoying characters. HE HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL.
And the fact that he wasn't completely mute was seen as almost a relief? SOME PEOPLE CAN'T SPEAK WITH THEIR MOUTHS AND THAT'S OKAY AND YES YOU CAN BE SEMI SPEAKING BUT IT FELT LIKE THE STORY WAS SAYING 'OH, DON'T WORRY, HE'S NOT MUTE IT'S FINE' AND I'M LIKE I DON'T CARE BUT SO WHAT IF HE IS THOUGH I HAVE A FEELING HE WOULD'VE BEEN TREATED AS A PROP OTHERWISE AND I'M LIKE AAAAAAAA???? sorry. I'm annoyed. And probably overly sensitive. (Legendborn spoilers)Also the characters' reactions reminded me of Whitty's death in Legendborn because it was supposed to be so sad but I was like 'I barely know you, you're just a name that pops up sometimes'.
I did like the prose and metaphors and poeticism and stuff but I couldn't tell the difference between Eris and Sona, but I also know it's really, really hard to differentiate first person perspectives.
The dynamic and romance between them was pretty good, imagine a kind of cyberpunk rebel dystopian thing, but Eris is Vi from Arcane and Sona is Caitlyn. 10/10.
Also this is definitely a case of the characters' lack of autism making them kind of unrelatable, how do they tell how someone is feeling and read expressions that well? Tell me your secrets please.
But the fight scenes were good, despite the fact that I still can't make my mind up on the morally grey decisions by the characters, and I kind of skim-read the last few chapters lol. I will get the next book, though, and the cover is amazing.
The crew! What a missed opportunity. Found family is by far my favourite trope, but I have standards and tend to only think of something as found family if it is truly god-tier. This was not it. I was disappointed. The only character I was interested in apart from Eris and Sona was Xander, and possibly Voxter but he wasn't really a member of the crew (Voxter has so much potential), but everything still felt so shallow and wasted.
#JusticeForXander
And the fact that he wasn't completely mute was seen as almost a relief? SOME PEOPLE CAN'T SPEAK WITH THEIR MOUTHS AND THAT'S OKAY AND YES YOU CAN BE SEMI SPEAKING BUT IT FELT LIKE THE STORY WAS SAYING 'OH, DON'T WORRY, HE'S NOT MUTE IT'S FINE' AND I'M LIKE I DON'T CARE BUT SO WHAT IF HE IS THOUGH I HAVE A FEELING HE WOULD'VE BEEN TREATED AS A PROP OTHERWISE AND I'M LIKE AAAAAAAA???? sorry. I'm annoyed. And probably overly sensitive. (Legendborn spoilers)
I did like the prose and metaphors and poeticism and stuff but I couldn't tell the difference between Eris and Sona, but I also know it's really, really hard to differentiate first person perspectives.
The dynamic and romance between them was pretty good, imagine a kind of cyberpunk rebel dystopian thing, but Eris is Vi from Arcane and Sona is Caitlyn. 10/10.
Also this is definitely a case of the characters' lack of autism making them kind of unrelatable, how do they tell how someone is feeling and read expressions that well? Tell me your secrets please.
But the fight scenes were good, despite the fact that I still can't make my mind up on the morally grey decisions by the characters, and I kind of skim-read the last few chapters lol. I will get the next book, though, and the cover is amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism and Infidelity