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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was such an easy read to get into. As a previous YA author I think Victoria Aveyard wrote this book that felt like the easy pick up and read of a YA but had the plot and character struggles you more often see in NA or adult works.
The characters were captivating from the start and kept my attention throughout the whole book. There wasn't one person's chapter that I was interested in reading as they were all compelling in their own way. I think this book's strongest area as each character felt unique from one another and even if they are feeling the same emotions and turmoil they express them in different ways.
I thought the plot of the book was good but it wasn't a driving force for me when it came to reading. It is a simple set up but in a way that allows the characters to shine without having a convoluted plot hanging over them. It was an interesting and I am intrigued to see where it goes in the next two books.
All in all if you have previously liked Victoria Aveyard's works this is a must read.
The characters were captivating from the start and kept my attention throughout the whole book. There wasn't one person's chapter that I was interested in reading as they were all compelling in their own way. I think this book's strongest area as each character felt unique from one another and even if they are feeling the same emotions and turmoil they express them in different ways.
I thought the plot of the book was good but it wasn't a driving force for me when it came to reading. It is a simple set up but in a way that allows the characters to shine without having a convoluted plot hanging over them. It was an interesting and I am intrigued to see where it goes in the next two books.
All in all if you have previously liked Victoria Aveyard's works this is a must read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Blood and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
redplanetreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Favorite Female Character: Corayne An-Amarat
Favorite Male Character: Andry Trelland
I really liked this one! I’ve been reading work by this author for a while, and I have to say that her writing has grown so much since her first series. RB felt a little non-linear and confusing at times, but once I really got into it I fell in love with the setting and the characters. With an expansive world build and enthralling storyline of danger, deception, and royal intrigue, I would recommend this for fans of LOTR, Six of Crows, and general sweeping fantasy novels.
Favorite Male Character: Andry Trelland
I really liked this one! I’ve been reading work by this author for a while, and I have to say that her writing has grown so much since her first series. RB felt a little non-linear and confusing at times, but once I really got into it I fell in love with the setting and the characters. With an expansive world build and enthralling storyline of danger, deception, and royal intrigue, I would recommend this for fans of LOTR, Six of Crows, and general sweeping fantasy novels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- 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
3.0
This was almost a DNF for me, except that by the time I was thoroughly bored by very little happening of importance, I was already almost done. As an audiobook, at least, the story flies by, unafraid to spend a very long time on each event without quite being dull. I wasn’t engaged by the chemistry of the main band of heroes, though a particular character who appears helpful and then is shown to be nefarious was much more interesting. This lands in a weird middle ground, like it’s trying to be a character-centered narrative with a traveling party that’ll be a tightly-knit found family by the end, and it’s aiming to be a grand journey epic that takes its time and goes to interesting places and is more concerned with the journey than the destination. I can recognize that it has an assassin with a mysterious past, a battle-hardened immortal, a squire trying to never fail anyone like he failed his last knight, a young woman finally making her way in the world, and an old woman who is prophetic and mysterious. It also has a queen trying to consolidate her power, a mysterious and malevolent prince, and a traveler trying to get help. However, these brief descriptions are more exciting than what actually happens in the story. I recognize the roles they play in the narrative but I don’t care about them as people and I keep forgetting who everyone is. I made my list of important characters without reviewing the list from the official blurb (available above), and my list doesn't quite match because it feels like the characters were chosen based on tropes, but a slightly different list were actually interesting in the story.
Part of what makes everyone feel interchangeable is that most of their individual goals aren’t well-defined. The main antagonist wants to open the spindles as a kind of revenge for his twin being stolen and raised to an inheritance that he only lost due to the luck of being born second. That explains why he’s angry but doesn’t sufficiently explain why he chose this particular plan as his revenge. The queen is my favorite character, her goals and motives are really clear and they make sense in the story. I understand why she’s doing what she’s doing, whether or not I think it’s wise or good. As for the others, they want to stop the spindles from being opened because the spindles let in deadly creatures. Great, love a “save the world goal”, but their individual goals other than “stop the antagonist and don’t die” are lost in favor of cultivating mystery and potential later reveals. It makes them feel interchangeable, because even if their goals are explained before or during the journey they don’t seem to affect what actually happens. At one point they get imprisoned, and not only has one of them been in prison before, they’ve been in this particular prison and already has a way to get out as soon as they decide to implement it. It means that even a prison break (traditionally a pretty dramatic bit of story) is anticlimactic and almost immediately solved.
The events of the prologue felt like they should have been the end of the first book, there's so much tension and depth in such a brief space, and then the rest of the book doesn't live up to that promise.
The worldbuilding related to the spindles is interesting, but the details don’t have time to matter before this portion of the trilogy is over. I have no interest in the sequels. This was bland in an inoffensive but uninteresting way. I don’t hate it, I don’t like it, it’s just blah and I don’t recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, and Excrement
maple_dusk's review against another edition
Couldn't get interested. Fantasy doesn't appeal to me unless it's alongside a genre that I really like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
nora_knight's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
As the introductory book to a series, I enjoyed it. It took a while to introduce each of the characters and set off on their quest, but it seems to set up an exciting adventure and I'm already anticipating reading the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Death of parent, and Alcohol
mayaschmerf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
frantically's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was SO GOOD. It's everything you want from epic fantasy — awesome descriptions, allll the kingdoms, immortals, heirs that somehow only have cousins, not siblings, and names that look like keyboard smashes.
You can really see how Aveyard's writing has become so much more mature since RQ. I loved all the characters and their stories linked really well together.
I especially loved Erida, mainly because she reminds me of my favourite historical women (I'm a history major, forgive me). She's such a well written morally gray/black/idek character and I'm so so excited to see how her story progresses and all the other ones as well.
You can really see how Aveyard's writing has become so much more mature since RQ. I loved all the characters and their stories linked really well together.
I especially loved Erida, mainly because she reminds me of my favourite historical women (I'm a history major, forgive me). She's such a well written morally gray/black/idek character and I'm so so excited to see how her story progresses and all the other ones as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
ordernumberseventeen's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
good, a lot of detail, too much sometimes, domachridhan>>>>>, 3 days
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Murder
kittykaz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The found family in this was immaculate. They don’t just work well as a group, but each individual relationship between them was fleshed out, making the whole team so much more dynamic. As for the wordlbuilding and the actual plot, it didn’t stand out to me from the vast majority of high fantasy series, although the absence of the typical “elves, dwarves and humans versus some weird goblings”-spiel was a very nice surprise. It’s not an Us versus Them conflict, but instead the conflict lies in the interests of the opposing sides. There is a clear focus on the personal goals each character is working to achieve which makes it easy to root for (or against) your favourite characters.
Additionally, this was one of the few examples of a Multiple POV format well done. Every character had new insights to offer, providing the reader with a whole new layer of the story that is entirely unique to the narrating character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief