maddiereadswords's review against another edition
4.5
This doesn't have the same creepy, haunting vibes as the first two books, and the two parts feel a little more disconnected to the point where I almost wish it had been two separate books (mostly because the back half in particular is so fast-paced and plot heavy that it really loses that spooky edge, and also partly because I selfishly can never get enough of these characters.) This is easily the darkest and most "adult" installment so far, and while it doesn't hit quite as hard as the first two for me, it's still an absolute powerhouse of a book that drags me through the full spectrum of human emotion every time I read it. <3
Spoiler
Also shout out to Ling Chan for being so autistic that she accidentally bypassed internalized homophobia, and to Miriam Lubovitch and Viola Campbell for being such milfs that they keep adopting fucked up children like Pokemon despite being held captive. I love women.Graphic: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Ableism, Antisemitism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Animal death, Violence, Alcohol, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Homophobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
Moderate: Classism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexual content, Dementia, and Sexism
charlie1995'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
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Xenophobia
nytephoenyx'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
5.0
Graphic: War, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Rape, Classism, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Religious bigotry
Minor: Deportation, Gun violence, and Ableism
This book includes characters who are Black, Chinese, disabled, Jewish, and gay. There are minor characters who are LatinX, Black, and Jewish. Eugenics is a central conversation in the book. It is very strongly opposed.allisonsmith120's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Antisemitism, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Minor: Medical trauma
overbooked207'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
4.0
2nd book of September 2022 and 28th of the year:
This was another great addition to the Diviners series with truly creepy moments, great mysteries, an amazing, lovable, and diverse cast of characters, important commentary and messages, the always beautiful found family trope, queer representation, disability representation, fantastic writing, and more! I think that Lair of Dreams is still my favorite of the three books I've read so far, but I still recommend the whole series as a whole and can’t wait to finish it hopefully soon! TW for death, violence, murder, mention of lobotomies and memory loss, discrimination, racism, antisemitism, eugenics, domestic abuse, blackmail, ableism, homophobia, alcohol, institutionalization, bomb/explosion, vomit, rape, sexual assault, gun violence, medical content/trauma, and grief📖🔮☠️🏳️🌈
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Sexism, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Violence
grexcarolinii's review against another edition
0.5
but I had to take away 1 star for the incredibly triggering r*** scene written in second person - you know, just to add to the triggering effects (note: none of the rest of the book was written in 2nd person, nor has any of the previous novels. I can only assume the author did this to add to the disgust of the scene, so at best is exploitative and gross, at worst it's downright malicious).
A second star taken away for just the casual mention of having a side characters love interest in Confederate costuming. For a book/series that likes to touch and try to wrestle with the problems of 1920s America - this felt so gross and tone death. How in the same book can you have the slaves of ghosts, references to the Jim Crows laws, and then just have a guy show up in Confederate uniform like it's just... fine?
No. Absolutely not.
Add to this a host of kinda unlikeable characters, not a whole lot of plot for a 546 page book
And far, far too many really awkward gross sex scenes to boot...
The half a star is literally for having a single Ace character, that's it
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual content
Notably: the rape scene is written in second personnienke'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
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Rape
bookswithjess'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
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Rape
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence
larareads'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia
peytonktracy'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
3.75
But the bulk of the marks against this book was how much I wished for some content warnings. This book took a turn for the serious (not that it hasn't always been serious) but several caught me completely off guard in vulnerable moments because they came with so little warning and one in particular put me off continuing this book for a month or so. And at the end
Spoiler
Bray decided to go all George R. R. Martin/J. K. Rowling in Deathly Hallows on us and just murder like four people in the span of a few chapters that was a little surprising and unexpected.All this to say though, I've already checked out and started the final installment and had no qualms about doing so. I'm ready to GO.
Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia and Slavery