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aravenclawlibraryx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tw: explosions, racism, gun violence, murder, blood
Time loop books are hard to review. This is my second book about time loops and I did like that book quite a bit. The book is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Truly a spectacular book and I loved it so much. Anyway, because time loop books have a very limited setting, you're limited on what you can mention because you want to avoid spoilers. So forgive me if this review is a little vague. I’ll do my best.
I can at least talk about the main character without giving too much away. The main character, Anais, was an okay main character. I was on board with her for a good portion of the book. She was strong and brave. She acted in exactly the way I expected a teenager/young adult to act, with the occasional moments of being a whiny teenager, but it didn’t bother me. It was the end when I started to have a problem with her. She became incredibly whiny, like more than she had been because something happened. It really put me off.
Let’s talk about the plot. Time loop books certainly have the potential to get old and repetitive very quickly. That did not happen with this book. Every loop, while sometimes the same, was not boring to read. The way the chapters were done was cool. If some chapters had something different, it went to chapter two. If a loop restarted, it went back to chapter one. It helped me to keep track of what was going on and how many loops we had gone through.
There is one thing I did want to discuss involving a trigger warning. I did mention that there is blood and explosions. But I want to emphasize that there's a lot of blood and explosions. Since it’s a time loop book, the explosions happened pretty frequently and they were described pretty graphically. To me, it seemed almost too graphic for the young adult genre but I’m also old. So I really just want to emphasize the violence in this book so nobody is surprised or upset.
Overall, this was a good book and I did have quite a nice time reading it. The time loop genre is something that I’m really enjoying. Minus the main character disappointing me in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this time loop book. I highly recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Death, and Gore
purplehulk713's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.75
As lovely and twisted as it were inked with the blood of the fairies themselves. Zeba Shahnaz is a magician! Her prose was both tantalizing and uproarious, and her world-building and character development were exquisite. I mean, you got to hear things like
She curses under her breath at the break in her alliteration.
and
“I did not think I had to tell you to keep your whores out of my chambers. Perhaps I overestimated your ability to read between the lines.”
I did not see the villain coming, or the provenance of the curse, but they were both great! The two things that slightly disappointed me were that the magic systems were left somewhat ambiguous (or at least the earth magic practiced by the magicians of Ivarea) that I felt a little more clarity (especially during battle scenes) of the specifics of the theory would have been helpful (rather than simply the thought of directing intention—which is believable for a hearth magic, as Anaïs describes her blessing). The denouement just felt a little bit anticlimactic, but the more I consider it, it feels entirely on theme with the rest of the story. I just probably wouldn’t have worded the last few sentences the same way. But the characters were the best. I so grew to love Jacinthe Vieillard the more we get to know her over the course of this same night, and Leo as well. Shahnaz is so good at portraying the multi-faceted character of a personality as well as a set of issues, like a racial, gender, or socioeconomic hierarchy. Seeing Anaïs develop (and take on grayer tones), likewise, was captivating. She was the perfect driver of a story to discuss themes of taking chances, using your time wisely, wasting it, trying to undo it, running away from the inevitable (the chimes of midnight) and just trying to escape the fact that at this point in your life, you might not know what you want though you are expected to. All time is short, and Anaïs Aubanel has never before been one to seize the day (for herself, at least). But now she has too much time on her hands. At least until clock strikes twelve in a burst of blood and magic…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
lacrimaeignis's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
As soon as I heard about the premise of this book, I knew I would be interested in this story. And then when I heard Owlcrate was including it as one of their selections, I was ecstatic (and I absolutely adored the bonus content not to mention just how beautiful that edition is in real life). However, I was not prepared for the ride I would be taken on nor for how much I would end up loving this unique story. I laughed and cried and raged (and all of those in the first 30 pages maybe even less) throughout the entire story and just generally had a grand time with this novel.
I was absolutely hooked from the very first chapter. And immediately fell in love with the cast of characters and the intricacies of this world. The first day I picked up this novel, I only read the first two or three chapters and the very next day, I was already passionately discussing the story with one of my best friends and desperately needing to know what was going to happen next. I must admit, I did not expect the first chapter to be so graphic and emotional but I am so glad the author did not skim over the horrors and the trauma of what happens.
The author wasted no time in throwing us into the political strife of this world inspired by Spanish and French courts with magic and faeries. The folklore, the politics, and the motives were all very believable and the characters all felt very real to me. And the foreshadows were all very well placed. This entire story was so well thought out!
I was nervous in the beginning that the story would come across as being repetitive due to the whole time loop concept but while parts of it were, for obvious reasons, each night Anais repeats is vastly different and adds another layer of intrigue to the story. It was so interesting to see how the characters developed and acted in each time loop and how their behavior would surprise Anais, especially Leo and Jacinthe. It was also interesting to see how one choice, or a multitude of choices could vary the outcome of events.
I know this is a stand-alone and while I don't think a direct sequel would work well, I would love to read another stand-alone set in this same world. It would be so interesting to read more about the magic systems and folklore and to see how the events and outcome of this novel affect the future of this world. With this novel, Zeba Shanaz has become an insta-buy author for me and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!
I was absolutely hooked from the very first chapter. And immediately fell in love with the cast of characters and the intricacies of this world. The first day I picked up this novel, I only read the first two or three chapters and the very next day, I was already passionately discussing the story with one of my best friends and desperately needing to know what was going to happen next. I must admit, I did not expect the first chapter to be so graphic and emotional but I am so glad the author did not skim over the horrors and the trauma of what happens.
The author wasted no time in throwing us into the political strife of this world inspired by Spanish and French courts with magic and faeries. The folklore, the politics, and the motives were all very believable and the characters all felt very real to me. And the foreshadows were all very well placed. This entire story was so well thought out!
I was nervous in the beginning that the story would come across as being repetitive due to the whole time loop concept but while parts of it were, for obvious reasons, each night Anais repeats is vastly different and adds another layer of intrigue to the story. It was so interesting to see how the characters developed and acted in each time loop and how their behavior would surprise Anais, especially Leo and Jacinthe. It was also interesting to see how one choice, or a multitude of choices could vary the outcome of events.
I know this is a stand-alone and while I don't think a direct sequel would work well, I would love to read another stand-alone set in this same world. It would be so interesting to read more about the magic systems and folklore and to see how the events and outcome of this novel affect the future of this world. With this novel, Zeba Shanaz has become an insta-buy author for me and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Cursing, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders
lisashelves's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Racial slurs, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
clownfish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A very entertaining story! I love time loops and this one was a lot of fun. The main character and the love interest have a nice chemistry.
The writing is a little flowery and cheesy at times but in a way that works well with the POV character and the setting.
The writing is a little flowery and cheesy at times but in a way that works well with the POV character and the setting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Homophobia
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Murder, Gore, Torture, and Blood
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