bergha1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Fantasy, Historical, Found Family
“I believe in gods as a cultural reference. As metaphors. As things we refer to keep us safe because we can’t do anything else, as manifestations of our neuroses. But not as things that I truly trust are real. Not as things that hold actual consequence for the universe.”
“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”
“It was, simply, what happened when one race decided that the other was insignificant.”
“And if your opponent was not human, if your opponent was a cockroach, what did it matter how many of them you killed?”
“If you were the victim, what could you say to make your tormentor recognize you as human? How did you get your enemy to recognize you at all?”
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Blood, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Xenophobia, Addiction, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and Vomit
joeynystrom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Sexual assault, Torture, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Violence, and Body horror
geminireader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I don’t know what book I read but it was not anywhere near the 5 star book people have described it as. I really don’t even know where to start. The main character… I feel absolutely nothing. I’m not even sure I could give more than 2 characteristics that describe her. She is simply there to carry the plot as it must follow a character but I feel nothing for her. Others critique that they dislike her… I am jealous of that because at least they feel something. Dislike is more intriguing than nothing at all. Just absolutely no character development. And are her driving pain really isn’t even her own? Maybe if we got to spend time with her at the beginning or had a more compelling backstory but I really have a hard time even feeling bad for her supposedly abusive childhood. So all her “rage” comes off very superficial and egotistical. I would have rather followed Altan who had a more genuine backstory and understandable rage. I can understand plot-wise why Rin is the choice and not Altan but still. The reader pays for that choice. While we’re at it, a critique of this book is that it doesn’t have romance. I’d argue it has something much worse: it has a feeble “will they won’t they” with the main character and someone who is implied to their sibling/at least related. And when I say feeble, I mean FEEBLE. They barely talk. And quite honestly, the fact that there was even a hint of romance in this book really disgusts me considering the content this book contains. There is so much more issue I have with the “characters” in this book (put in quotations because they are so weak) but we’ve hit a good transition into plot time. The content of this book is devastating and unfortunately, the real atrocities of this book aren’t fiction. As you probably know, this book is derived from the second Sino-Japanese war, which was a really heinous time in all of human history. So, I agree with all the other reviews on here saying the reader takes on some heavy trauma. But what bothers me so much about this, is that I felt so emotional reading this content because it is historical and completely inhuman, not because the writing/story/characters or literally anything about this book made me feel that way. Which I guess brings me to a point where I would have felt nothing from this book or story if it hadn’t contained retellings of real events.
In summary (pat on the back if you actually read this), I am greatly disappointed. I was so excited going into this read. And now I feel guilty tearing it down because it’s an East Asian fantasy that has reached high popularity and has added some much needed diversity to the fantasy section (getting a little tired of the Greek mythology retellings over here). But a book still has to be good. And I would argue this book, objectively, isn’t good. If anyone is curious, I will still be attempting the second book as I’ve read it has major improvements on the first. Funny, im trusting those reviews even after the glowing reviews from the first book betrayed me. But alas, this is how badly I want to like this series. Stay tuned.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Racism
dreamreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, Blood, Genocide, Torture, War, Violence, and Addiction
theguywholovesbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Rape, Death, Drug abuse, and War
space_corgi'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: Death, Blood, Drug use, Murder, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide
Moderate: Classism, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
donzzles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler
fang runin girlboss slay go commit your funky little harrowing war crimes queen!Graphic: War, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Murder, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Genocide
Moderate: Self harm, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism
melissafelicia'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
4.0
However, the character growth went a different way than I expected or would have hoped, which made the book frustrating at times. It was also waaayyy darker and graphically violent than I expected (that's on me for not wanting to spoil myself and not reading any of the reviews or authors' statements about trigger warnings). I still think it's a very well written book and an interesting world and I'm curious how the story will continue, but I might need to take a little break before starting part 2.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Rape, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Death, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Addiction, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
const_elle_ations's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: War, Drug use, Death, Violence, Murder, Torture, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Drug abuse, Bullying, Rape, and Addiction
Minor: Animal death
k_o's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Infertility, Murder, Violence, Drug use, Physical abuse, War, Sexual violence, Vomit, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture