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sydsmeets'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
fanboyriot'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: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Slavery, and Death of parent
mj1588's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
building_a_bookdom'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: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
thewillowwood'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: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, and Vomit
spaghettii'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
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
emerentina's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content
kananineko'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
3.0
So, I loved the characters in this, especially the two main characters. I felt really connected to them, felt they were distinct, easily rooted for them, and loved their relationship and all of its developments. I also loved pretty much all of the side characters even though they weren't very fleshed out (I thought that was okay because this book really focused on the two MCs). The found family dynamic in this was amazing as well.
The atmosphere of this book was really cool and I enjoyed the idea of the Windups (mechas) and Gearbreakers. But I will say that the worldbuilding was... kinda bad tbh. I didn't really understand the whole thing with the Windups being gods but also not really, and there was a lot of worldbuilding infodumping early on in the book that didn't really make logical sense...
And this leads me to my point about this book making me realize that maybe I need to stop reading YA scifi/fantasy. The iffy worldbuilding and teenagers-overthrowing-an-evil-government plot strongly reminded me of all those YA dystopias that were really popular back in the 2010s. Don't get me wrong, not all of those were bad, and I think this is leagues better than a lot of them (especially relationship/character-wise) but I'm starting to realize that I'm finally tired of those types of books.
And the writing style was the worst offender in terms of YA typicality. The author is definitely talented and I'm sure a lot of people will love her writing, but to me it just felt so... overdone. Overdramatic. Dare I say... "I'm 14 and this is deep"? Even when I empathized/agreed with things the characters were feeling or thinking, I couldn't stand the way the author phrased them. And there were so many one-line paragraphs!
So.
Many.
Why? Just why?
And this is coming from someone who loves flowery, metaphor-heavy writing (ex. Laini Taylor). It wasn't done well here in my opinion. It wasn't unreadable, but did make the story a bit clunky at times, especially during fast-paced action scenes. I just think that the writing style and the plot and world are so deeply YA, which is totally okay! Just not something I am super into anymore.
You're probably wondering why, after that rant, I'm giving it 4/3.5 stars, but it's because, despite my complaints, I had a lot of fun reading this! I really enjoyed the characters, their relationships, and the found family dynamic. I found it relatively easy to read and fun. I'm also hoping that the worldbuilding will get a little more solid in the sequel, which I will be reading because I want to see the characters get a happy ending (hopefully).
However, no matter how enjoyable I found this book to be, I don't think I want to read any more fun but shallow YA dystopian/scifi/fantasy stories anymore. This very well may be my last one. Actually, that will probably be the sequel to this book, but oh, well. Point still stands.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
talonsontypewriters's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
The ideas behind Gearbreakers aren't bad at all, but their execution left a lot to be desired for me -- I kind of wish I had just rewatched Evangelion or a Gundam series instead. I'll hesitantly keep an eye on Mikuta's future releases, though, as the flaws may even themselves out with age and experience.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol
Eye trauma/gore.pitchblackkoi'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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Torture and Grief