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maya_moksha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
ashleythebookwhore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, and Car accident
Minor: Incest and Fire/Fire injury
katemarie99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Deportation
peggy_racham's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
shoshin'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? It's complicated
4.25
Encapsulating both these complaints: Balquis' character seems to exist completely for proposes that don't further the narrative: adding a sex(ist) scene and dying during the "troubles" part. I could be convinced there's narrative value there, but I'm not seeing it at the moment.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Rape and Fire/Fire injury
jessthanthree'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
readingwithcoffee'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Murder
thestorydoer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
It begins very strongly with a lot of mystery and excitement, and ends even stronger, raising the whole book up another level, but the middle feels quite tedious at times. It favours the inclusion of its world of ancient gods in modern times over traditional forms of drama. This makes the read an incredibly slow one. And at 800 pages, it's definitely not for people who struggle to read slowly paced books.
But the world is so incredibly well thought out, it almost doesn't matter as it doubles down on its worldbuilding storytelling, the author trusting his ability to create a world so good, it surpassed regular dramatic tension. Not to say there aren't tense moments, because there are, just very far and few between pages. Again, this makes the story a pleasurable but monotonous read.
Although, what is it with good authors and uncomfortable sexual references? This book often has mentions of rape and pedophelia in multiple moments. Some work in its context, others feel needlessly included. The book also has a fixation on sex, which is fair? But I was personally not a fan of just how fixated it was. It never goes into explicit detail but it is implied multiple times throughout the book.
Overall, it was worth the read because of its world and it's faults can be very easily overlooked.
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture