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winterstar'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
3.5
Enjoyed: interesting world, intriguing plot, great tone and flavor, characters genuinely not afraid to get dark and weird and complicated.
Didn't vibe with: meandering middle, a few of the characters I found either bland or insufferable, some clunky storytelling and truly confusing moments, prose that was way more tell than show.
Overall I was driven more by curiosity about what the gods were up to, and interest in the different realms, than in the characters. It's hard to say where exactly this goes wrong, because I connected with the characters at first, but as the book went on and I spent more time with each one, they all started to seem a little flat. Ironically, so much of what the characters are thinking and feeling is hammered in. There were so many scenes I wish the writing would have just let speak for themselves, rather than hamfistedly explaining their significance; on the other hand, there were a few crucial scenes that tried to convey everything through implication, and could have used more clarity. I really liked a few individual lines and paragraphs of the writing, which vacillates between truly evocative and shockingly clumsy.
I think the book is worth reading if a dark, complex world and plot as well as a few interesting characters are enough to keep you interested. I'll be picking up the sequel to see if it's an improvement, since I really enjoyed the last chunk of the book and the cliffhanger left me wanting to know more.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Blood, and Grief
fartbox'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
4.0
Moderate: Gore, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
iforgotilivedhere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism
i_write_on_occasion'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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
chloe_sherlock_'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
4.0
Moderate: Gore and Murder
Minor: Cursing and Cannibalism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
I think I’m having trouble because of the size of the cast. It starts out with four main characters (with one more important one who isn’t a POV character) and then adds another one. They’re all in the same city and there’s a degree of redundancy as one character learns something and then one or two others figure it out separately. Whatever the reason, I’m not enjoying it and I’m stopping.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Alcohol
msradiosilence'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
Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/the-city-of-dusk.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
nubrevnasnow'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
4.5
Graphic: Death and Gore
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
But the first 150-200 pages are so dense. The worldbuilding is so heavy, in that “I need to explicitly and directly tell the reader all these things about the world” way. It’s such a complex and dense set up, and thus the pacing is very slow and I agree with other reviewers that this could easily have been cut 100 pages and the pacing would have flowed a lot better.
In saying that, I say push the fuck through because the pay off is excellent, the characters and their relationships are wonderful and I support bisexual shadow dagger-wielding monster girls who want to tear the world apart and the boys they fancy.
Content warnings: blood and gore, murder, dead bodies, cannibalism, self-harm, burns/burn injury, animal cruelty and torture, animal death, possession, sex, sex work, violence
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
allisonwonderlandreads'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
3.0
What I enjoyed most about this book were the twists and turns, the queer cast, and the reflections on power and privilege. While the relationships were a bit surface level and trope-y for my tastes (especially the romantic plots were predictable and rushed), the political power games were fascinating and kept many surprises until the very end. In terms of queer representation, there are both sapphic and mlm romances brewing among the main cast at the end of this first installment, and an important side character is a trans girl. There is also an established sapphic couple as one of the main character's mom and stepmom. It seems to be a queer-norm society. I appreciated how the characters struggle throughout the book to come to terms with their own power in a magical and political sense. They have to consider their duty, the future of their world, and what role they should play in it. They also have to consider what greater powers are meddling in their lives and those of everyone, powers that perhaps shouldn't be revered once viewed in a more honest light.
Beyond relationships that took a back seat to plot, the main deterrent keeping me from being fully immersed in this story was the drawn-out pacing. I lost motivation at several points throughout because I felt sluggish moving through the plot. I think it's always a risk having a book this long, and it takes a special connection between reader and book to keep interest up throughout. That didn't happen for me here, but I still found a lot to admire and enjoy.
Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Death of parent