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whynterdesaina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I was more of a romance reader than a fantasy, but this book pulled me right into the world of fantasy books. It was NOT my first fantasy book, but it is so far the best. It put me into a reading slump. Definitely getting the second part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse
brieoqueijo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a very happy surprise, I was expecting a 3.0 stars at most, and maybe even a rant review, but this was really fun!!
!!!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!
!!!!!I MEAN IT!!!!!!
Ok, so here are my critiques:
At the beginning I was kinda hating Grim, he was acting kinda creepy and it wasn’t sexy, just creepy
Isla was so dumb at the beginning, she literally almost died twice cause tripped????? Like girl you’re a warrior and can’t even stay standing up? Get a grip
BUT as the book went on I started really liking both her and grim, and I was thinking to myself like damn how I am supposed to ship her with oro? Cause he’s always acting like he has a stick you know where. But then he was just ✨oro✨ and we love him for it
I enjoyed the plot twists at the end (all hundreds of them), I definitely wasn’t expecting for grim and isla having a history before the games, I really thought it was just that old insta love shite
I could see celeste being evil from like a mile away, but it still was done nicely, and I think it was a great ending to the curse to kill that whoe
THE WAY I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA TELL ISLA GRIM WAS HER ACTUAL FATHER I ALMOST DIED IM SO GLAD MS ALEX ASTER DIDNT GO FULL ALABAMA OUT OF NOWHERE
And finally, I got kind confused at the end about how is oros and islas relationship right now, cause it kinda felt like “x months later” but they don’t seem very intimate?? I hope we haven’t lost their first kiss cause I wanted to read all that yearning
And finally, I’m still kinda devided between both love interests but grims last sentence of “remember us and than you’ll come back to me” kinda gave me the ick idk
That’s it, will be starting book #2 right now xoxo
!!!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!
!!!!!I MEAN IT!!!!!!
Ok, so here are my critiques:
At the beginning I was kinda hating Grim, he was acting kinda creepy and it wasn’t sexy, just creepy
Isla was so dumb at the beginning, she literally almost died twice cause tripped????? Like girl you’re a warrior and can’t even stay standing up? Get a grip
BUT as the book went on I started really liking both her and grim, and I was thinking to myself like damn how I am supposed to ship her with oro? Cause he’s always acting like he has a stick you know where. But then he was just ✨oro✨ and we love him for it
I enjoyed the plot twists at the end (all hundreds of them), I definitely wasn’t expecting for grim and isla having a history before the games, I really thought it was just that old insta love shite
I could see celeste being evil from like a mile away, but it still was done nicely, and I think it was a great ending to the curse to kill that whoe
THE WAY I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA TELL ISLA GRIM WAS HER ACTUAL FATHER I ALMOST DIED IM SO GLAD MS ALEX ASTER DIDNT GO FULL ALABAMA OUT OF NOWHERE
And finally, I got kind confused at the end about how is oros and islas relationship right now, cause it kinda felt like “x months later” but they don’t seem very intimate?? I hope we haven’t lost their first kiss cause I wanted to read all that yearning
And finally, I’m still kinda devided between both love interests but grims last sentence of “remember us and than you’ll come back to me” kinda gave me the ick idk
That’s it, will be starting book #2 right now xoxo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
creataav's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I liked it but there were some moments where the characters weren’t using all of the information that they had when making decisions. they frustrated me but i still ate it up. 7/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Gaslighting
Moderate: Stalking
typical love interest “it’s not creepy because he’s hot” stuff.elskede's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
acbwalsh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism
lkristin2018's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I thought that even though Isla’s age wasn’t precisely defined, and perhaps she was legally an adult, having her love interest literally centuries older than her felt icky. Also, the curses endured by the various kingdoms were not at all in proportion to each other. One kingdom simply loses the ability to fly, while another one must regularly eat human hearts in order to survive, and will die if they fall in love. I find it almost impossible to imagine a society where people exist on eating human hearts. Even if a person only eats one a month, it means twelve other people have to die every single year of that person’s life. It just doesn’t feel sustainable. Yes, it’s fiction, but I can’t suspend my disbelief quite that far.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Blood and Alcohol
yuidf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
ev_ve's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
4.0
The plot twists WILL alter your brain chemistry. Be ready for everything to change in a split second
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement and Death of parent
greystory's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
2.5-3 stars
I liked the premise so I finally went for it. It was eh. The writing itself was alright. Not good, not great, but not bad either. My biggest complaint was the sheer YA-ness of it all which kind of isn't fair to hold against it. I was going to say this wasn't predictable like I thought it would be but in the end, it was, it just took longer getting there than anticipated.
I also don't love the sort of love triangle. Nor the massive maturity gap in the end relationship. I had unanswered questions at the end, which was a bummer given we had to sit through that extended antagonist monologue revealing stuff (unfortunately some of the same stuff more than once because Isla wasn't getting it for some reason).
Notes I jotted down while reading: (beware there be spoilers)
* She keeps referring to Grimm as having done her a favor when he implied there'd be a duel, but I find that to be a stretch. Everyone in the challenge had a sword so it wasn't like she would have been without one, right? And if you're preparing for this event your whole life, why wouldn't you have a suit of armor prepared or part of your plans? I found this really confusing.
* The severe training memories and reminders of being trained her whole life were at odds with Isla's general unpreparedness. Some of them training memories especially made no sense. These are regular humans with some magical abilities right? It's not possible to hang from something for 5 hours straight. Even if she could, doing it once like a decade ago does not prepare one for a swordfight. That does not translate, at all.
* The whole relationship with Grimm felt rushed and built on absolutely nothing. He flirted a little bit with her and she was so attention starved she was eating it up, apparently.
* She gets a secret from the secret dude Juniper and at 25% in, it's implied she can only ever get one secret from him. Why would she waste it on asking about getting around the moon guards? The answer was to wait until the full moon because the moon guards would have to be inside because all of the moonlings have to be indoors during it. How is that not basic information you already have about the moonlings? Shouldn't she or Celeste already know this??
* More of the Grimm relationship nonsense. Isla's making choices like I guess someone in their early 20s in their first ever romantic foray would but god is it frustrating and embarrassingly foolish.
* Isla is constantly telling herself she can't trust anyone and then going and trusting everyone.
* She will literally do things that make no sense. "Isla had to be quick!" then 2 seconds later she melodramtically kneeled on the floor, sighing and dwelling on her situation with emo lenses for awhile instead of doing anything. Ma'am. Ma'am, I can't with you.
* Isla is really not the brightest at times
I liked the premise so I finally went for it. It was eh. The writing itself was alright. Not good, not great, but not bad either. My biggest complaint was the sheer YA-ness of it all which kind of isn't fair to hold against it. I was going to say this wasn't predictable like I thought it would be but in the end, it was, it just took longer getting there than anticipated.
I also don't love the sort of love triangle. Nor the massive maturity gap in the end relationship. I had unanswered questions at the end, which was a bummer given we had to sit through that extended antagonist monologue revealing stuff (unfortunately some of the same stuff more than once because Isla wasn't getting it for some reason).
Notes I jotted down while reading: (beware there be spoilers)
* She keeps referring to Grimm as having done her a favor when he implied there'd be a duel, but I find that to be a stretch. Everyone in the challenge had a sword so it wasn't like she would have been without one, right? And if you're preparing for this event your whole life, why wouldn't you have a suit of armor prepared or part of your plans? I found this really confusing.
* The severe training memories and reminders of being trained her whole life were at odds with Isla's general unpreparedness. Some of them training memories especially made no sense. These are regular humans with some magical abilities right? It's not possible to hang from something for 5 hours straight. Even if she could, doing it once like a decade ago does not prepare one for a swordfight. That does not translate, at all.
* The whole relationship with Grimm felt rushed and built on absolutely nothing. He flirted a little bit with her and she was so attention starved she was eating it up, apparently.
* She gets a secret from the secret dude Juniper and at 25% in, it's implied she can only ever get one secret from him. Why would she waste it on asking about getting around the moon guards? The answer was to wait until the full moon because the moon guards would have to be inside because all of the moonlings have to be indoors during it. How is that not basic information you already have about the moonlings? Shouldn't she or Celeste already know this??
* More of the Grimm relationship nonsense. Isla's making choices like I guess someone in their early 20s in their first ever romantic foray would but god is it frustrating and embarrassingly foolish.
* Isla is constantly telling herself she can't trust anyone and then going and trusting everyone.
* She will literally do things that make no sense. "Isla had to be quick!" then 2 seconds later she melodramtically kneeled on the floor, sighing and dwelling on her situation with emo lenses for awhile instead of doing anything. Ma'am. Ma'am, I can't with you.
* Isla is really not the brightest at times
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
bronzel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail