Scan barcode
brieoqueijo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
!!!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!
!!!!!I MEAN IT!!!!!!
Ok, so here are my critiques:
At the beginning I was kinda hating Grim, he was acting kinda creepy and it wasn’t sexy, just creepy
Isla was so dumb at the beginning, she literally almost died twice cause tripped????? Like girl you’re a warrior and can’t even stay standing up? Get a grip
BUT as the book went on I started really liking both her and grim, and I was thinking to myself like damn how I am supposed to ship her with oro? Cause he’s always acting like he has a stick you know where. But then he was just ✨oro✨ and we love him for it
I enjoyed the plot twists at the end (all hundreds of them), I definitely wasn’t expecting for grim and isla having a history before the games, I really thought it was just that old insta love shite
I could see celeste being evil from like a mile away, but it still was done nicely, and I think it was a great ending to the curse to kill that whoe
THE WAY I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA TELL ISLA GRIM WAS HER ACTUAL FATHER I ALMOST DIED IM SO GLAD MS ALEX ASTER DIDNT GO FULL ALABAMA OUT OF NOWHERE
And finally, I got kind confused at the end about how is oros and islas relationship right now, cause it kinda felt like “x months later” but they don’t seem very intimate?? I hope we haven’t lost their first kiss cause I wanted to read all that yearning
And finally, I’m still kinda devided between both love interests but grims last sentence of “remember us and than you’ll come back to me” kinda gave me the ick idk
That’s it, will be starting book #2 right now xoxo
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
dearhaleynicole'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
4.75
Potentional relationship/love interest spoiler:
Cannot wait to read Nightbane. Like, currently restructuring my whole tbr list to accomodate as I write this...
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
barbiedreamlibrary'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
3.5
The story is about a young royal from the Wilding court named Isla who is sent to participate in essentially a 100 day fantasy version of The Hunger Games. This event is named the Centennial and it involves 6 different realms that attempt over the 100 day period to break a curse that was put upon them 500 (?) years ago with the premise that one of them is supposed to die in order to save the other realms. Each realm has a different curse that affects their abilities in different ways and thus how they participate in the Centennial. However, to add a wrench to the Wildling's strategy: Isla has no powers. There's different trials that each realm ruler puts on that are supposed to help assess who they think should be sacrificed at the end of the 100 days. Throughout the book Isla makes friends and enemies with the different rulers, in addition to taking part in different side missions that ends up in a crazy plot twist.
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Genocide
shellbell_04'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Genocide
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Genocide and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury
faeriefox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I absolutely loved the first 80% of the book. I thought the prose was lovely and that the premise and characters were very interesting and unique. The plot twists made sense while still being unpredictable, and the story was all in all very well done.
However, later on in the book, it felt like the writing and story was less thought-out and just done in a rush. The plot twists were out of nowhere and completely outlandish, and the story could have been taken in so many different, better directions.
All in all, I'd say the book is definitely worth a read, and I will be reading the second one. It doesn't deserve all of the hate it's getting, but it didn't quite live up to my hopes.
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Cannibalism
Minor: Genocide and Gore
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
gayelfboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Minor: Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
_ohheyisabella_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While some of the descriptions and names of objects/places were childish, it was fun to read. I did not need to think too hard and could relax while following along the plot with the main character. Yes, the book has its faults, but I liked it and will most likely be purchasing the next book in the series.
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
callmesword's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: War
Minor: Death and Genocide