chinaskye12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death and Sexual assault
Minor: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexism
gillianengelbrecht'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
4.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and Animal death
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Murder, and Suicide
theotheleo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Cursing, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Torture, Child death, Racism, Blood, and Mental illness
Minor: Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicide, Slavery, and Medical trauma
carolynkwolff'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Slavery
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
rqdreads'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spoiler
I know this book is clearly about HELL and getting Darlington out of it, but it kind of started focusing more on the demon side of things and for whatever reason, I just don't like books about demons or angels. I know I know. It doesn't have anything to do with my star rating, as I know that's personal and not a critical review of the book.But that aside, I think that the pacing of the book was a bit slow, there was too much info, then scenes were things that needed explanation were kind of brushed off. I loved the answers we did get and I felt satisfied with what I knew by the end.
Overall, the book came together and I enjoyed it and believe MOST people who like Leigh Bardugo will continue with this series.
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Suicide attempt, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug use, Car accident, and Blood
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
Spoiler
Darlington having a glowing highlighter dick and not using it made me sad LOLjoflake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racism
bookwitch_92's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Blood, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Cursing
gretchenplz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked this book a lot, especially in the new format. I think Leigh did better in this book to not "tell instead of show" with her writing, but it still felt like a lesson in Yale/New Haven history at times. I definitely can tell that she put lots of time and effort into researching, but I don't think it all needs to be on the page.
My cons were the overall length of the book, the pacing (good final 40%, but a slow first 60% and a rushed final 5%), and... the vampires. Couldn't we just have called them demons and left it at that?
Turner has quickly become my favorite character, but my gut is telling me to keep a watchful eye on Mercy. It was much easier to root for Alex in this book than in Ninth House and, yes, I wish we had gotten more of our Gentleman Demon.
I will be anxiously waiting for the third book because my little Darlingstern heart won't be satisfied until I read demon/wheelwalker smut.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
sauvageloup'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
pros:
- the ingenuity and originality of the magical system is fab, I love the dark rituals and magic that the societies come up with.
- the plot is intricate and intriguing, with plot twists, but theres always hints that the reader can spot afterwards
Spoiler
like with Michelle wearing turtlenecks to show shes in league with the vampire, and Anselm suddenly changing personality because hes possessed. they were both clear but subtle and I didnt see it till after the reveal- I do really like the characters, they're all so different and their own people, Alex, Darlington, Turner, Dawes and Mercy, but also all the side characters have their own motivations
- the writing is very good, with some rly vivid imagery and turns of phrase that I wish I'd marked
- I love the extremely grey morality in how we have a lot of compassion for Alex, but she is a dark soldier of a character and so is Darlington. that's never minimalised and actually takes front stage in the book.
- the setting is basically a character itself and while I didnt really fall in love with it, I still appreciated the research and beauty of it all
- I also liked how it didnt shy away from linking magical exploitation to real life, like with the runaway slaves map, and how it was never brushed aside. it showed the dark side of the magical and wealthy.
cons:
- it's a dense book, with a lot of time switches near the start, which threw me. keeping track of characters can be tricky and I definitely needed the summary of the 1st bk to remember a lot of things. the complexity if the book all comes together near the end but it takes some getting your head round and was partly why it took me a longer time to read.
- I do kind of wish the series had started at a different point. leigh mentioned it might have been a much longer series and I kind of wish we'd seen the events with hellie and Alex's introduction to lethe by Darlington first hand, rather than in erratic flashbacks. it was hard to feel very invested in Darlington's return for a lot of it because we dont get to view himself ourselves, only through glimpses through Alex.
- sometimes things happened in the plot that felt a bit random, too much out of nowhere.
Spoiler
like when they got the tattoos of the salt animals that would repeatedly save their lives, it was just snuck in there as a little ritual they did like on a whim. why didnt they do some more protection earlier on? while some plot points came together nicely, sometimes it did feel kind of episodic and thrown from one plot point to the next, rather than a tightly woven web. but that also sort of fits the chaos of Alex's character so idkbut overall I did really like it, especially the badass last scene and I very much want to read the next one. (it was also amazing to meet and see leigh talk, would do that again also)
Graphic: Police brutality, Sexism, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, and Drug use
Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Slavery, Suicide, Sexual assault, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
focus on animal death and violence in one graphic scene. the self harm is to do with cutting an arm for a magical ritual the suicide attempt/thoughts are a brief mention by a side character but do come up a couple timesscripturient'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
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Animal death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Torture, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Racism
Just basically ALL the trigger warnings.