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cerilouisereads's review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Colonisation
bookbrig's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
A really satisfying conclusion, I'm so glad I stumbled on these books. I loved the cast of characters in all their messy and complicated nuance, and the way the story is told from such a variety of perspectives worked so well. It's not a YA duology, but I'd give it to teen fans of The Disasters by M.K. England with some content warnings and a head's up that it was written with an adult audience in mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Medical content
starccato's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I actually got approved for both the US and UK editions so here we are. Thank you to DAW Books and Gollancz and Netgalley for the review copies in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway!
I love it when authors can wrap up their story in two books. Especially as this was written by two authors. The challenge of keeping out all the things is real then. But nothing one has to worry about here. Elizabeth May and Laura Lam write a tight story with seven characters.
It took me a little while to find my bearing again with this story. Remembering where all 7 devils fit in and then the extra rebellion side characters that were mentioned. I would have loved a bit of a recap here on who was who. But I figured it out.
This story still focuses on the characters more than the action. There is time taken for the important bonding moments. And how to rid ourselves of our programming. How to fight and make our own choices. As someone currently going through therapy to see how my family's history affected my upbringing and to figure out how to break free from all of that, I really appreciated that. I wanted to hold the hand of all our seven devils and squeeze them when times got hard.
I also appreciated how the story changed with the addition of the Oracle becoming the dangerous one and how our youngest devil had something to do with that. And yet our thornly ruler wasn't ruled out as the enemy either. I loved seeing something of another species as well as their planet.
All in all this was just a worthy conclusion to an ass kicking, mostly, female crew space adventure with so much characterization to make you fall in love with each and every character.
I love it when authors can wrap up their story in two books. Especially as this was written by two authors. The challenge of keeping out all the things is real then. But nothing one has to worry about here. Elizabeth May and Laura Lam write a tight story with seven characters.
It took me a little while to find my bearing again with this story. Remembering where all 7 devils fit in and then the extra rebellion side characters that were mentioned. I would have loved a bit of a recap here on who was who. But I figured it out.
This story still focuses on the characters more than the action. There is time taken for the important bonding moments. And how to rid ourselves of our programming. How to fight and make our own choices. As someone currently going through therapy to see how my family's history affected my upbringing and to figure out how to break free from all of that, I really appreciated that. I wanted to hold the hand of all our seven devils and squeeze them when times got hard.
I also appreciated how the story changed with the addition of the Oracle becoming the dangerous one and how our youngest devil had something to do with that. And yet our thornly ruler wasn't ruled out as the enemy either. I loved seeing something of another species as well as their planet.
All in all this was just a worthy conclusion to an ass kicking, mostly, female crew space adventure with so much characterization to make you fall in love with each and every character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Death
Mentioned Loss of Limb | Mass Death | Self-Sacrifice |queenmackenzie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Seven Devils, the first book in this duology by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May, was one of my top reads of 2021, and I had high expectations for its sequel. I am happy to say that those expectations were met and exceeded. I was immediately grinning at the story starting with Eris on a mission, just like in the first one. It was such a good way to reintroduce the world of Seven Devils because it is both familiar and entertaining with Eris’ wry inner monologue, but it also showed how much she has evolved as a character. At the start of Seven Devils, Eris says she is trying really hard not to kill anyone, as per her Commanders’ orders, but she still ends up sacrificing a lot of souls to the God of Death. In Seven Mercies, Eris is actually trying not to deliver killing blows, and lets herself see others as people a lot more. She is also not alone, and I loved getting reacquainted with all the Devils.
Each of the seven – Commander Kyla, ex-princess Eris, engineer Clo, sixteen year old super genius programmer Ariadne, courtesan Rhea, and soldiers Nyx and Cato – are given their time to shine, and I loved every one of them and I can’t really say I have a favourite (*cough* it’s Cato *cough*). I liked the fact that we get to see a lot more of Kyla, who was more of a background character in the first instalment, and the way she was so central to the rebellion and to keeping this group of people together. The thing that made every one of these characters so good to read is how they are all such emotionally broken people, all damaged by the Empire in one way or another, and watching them come out of that and learn to trust one another with their scars and secrets was so satisfying. Of course, it also made for some good twists as some secrets were bigger than others, and I definitely gasped out loud a few times.
There was a section of Seven Mercies that didn’t quite grip me right away, which is when two of the Devils go on a separate mission to Eve, homeworld of the opposing Evoli empire. I was very excited to get to see Eve, only alluded to before now, but found that the slower pace and the emotional conflicts weren’t enough to keep me excited – I wanted to get back to the scheming and the action! But that was just a brief thing, and the Eve side quest was absolutely necessary to the plot and was payed off really well later.
I don’t quite know how Lam and May managed to create a duology brimming with action, sarcasm, conflict, creepy AI’s, and politics while also imbuing it with so much hope, beauty, diversity, and pure relationships. I know this series will be one I will go back to, and will recommend to others a lot, because it does so much in just two books, with an ending that fit so perfectly and left me both devastated and satisfied.
Each of the seven – Commander Kyla, ex-princess Eris, engineer Clo, sixteen year old super genius programmer Ariadne, courtesan Rhea, and soldiers Nyx and Cato – are given their time to shine, and I loved every one of them and I can’t really say I have a favourite (*cough* it’s Cato *cough*). I liked the fact that we get to see a lot more of Kyla, who was more of a background character in the first instalment, and the way she was so central to the rebellion and to keeping this group of people together. The thing that made every one of these characters so good to read is how they are all such emotionally broken people, all damaged by the Empire in one way or another, and watching them come out of that and learn to trust one another with their scars and secrets was so satisfying. Of course, it also made for some good twists as some secrets were bigger than others, and I definitely gasped out loud a few times.
There was a section of Seven Mercies that didn’t quite grip me right away, which is when two of the Devils go on a separate mission to Eve, homeworld of the opposing Evoli empire. I was very excited to get to see Eve, only alluded to before now, but found that the slower pace and the emotional conflicts weren’t enough to keep me excited – I wanted to get back to the scheming and the action! But that was just a brief thing, and the Eve side quest was absolutely necessary to the plot and was payed off really well later.
I don’t quite know how Lam and May managed to create a duology brimming with action, sarcasm, conflict, creepy AI’s, and politics while also imbuing it with so much hope, beauty, diversity, and pure relationships. I know this series will be one I will go back to, and will recommend to others a lot, because it does so much in just two books, with an ending that fit so perfectly and left me both devastated and satisfied.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Genocide
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Transphobia
ghosthermione's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.5
I got this book through Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Thanks!
I will start by saying I did thoroughly enjoy this book. It took me a bit to get back into it, but after a while I just could. Not. Stop. Reading. I had to know what happened next. There were also a lot of "wtf" revelations and semi cliffhangers that really made the pacing of this book work for me.
Overall it was very satisfying, and without spoiling, I can say that I was quite happy with the ending. Moving, emotional, but satisfying. I also liked that the book took the time to get to its conclusion, with a few wrap up chapters. A rushed wrap-up often leaves me with a bittersweet taste so I was glad this wasn't the case here, after such a saga!
I'm also happy with its exploration of genders and sexualities, going further than the previous books. Some depth was also added to some characters in the process and I really appreciated that.
I did feel like a bit more time could've been spent on some of the characters and their decisions. I still don't understand why Ariadne did... at all, at any point in the book. There's some half reasons given but I did not see the logic in them (yes even for a traumatised, probably neurodivergent kid), I missed that sense that, well, what the character did made sense to her at least. I also felt like some of the plotting was a bit rushed, or not as tight as it could've been. Some of the moves felt... too easy. Clearly the authors knew where they wanted to take this story, and so they did. But it didn't have the same feeling of consequences or unavoidability of some of the first book's twists, it felt more deliberately author-led than actions coming from the characters or because they had to.
I also enjoyed focusing more on Cato, Nyx and Rhea, but I did feel like we lost a bit of the in-depth understanding of Eris. She was very much central to the first book, and here her own chapters are focused a lot on the other characters. Obviously her main plot point around her identity has been dealt with so it makes sense.
I'm also ambivalent about Cato's storyline because it does add so much more depth to him and answers some big questions, but I don't think it was taken to its logical conclusion and so it's left a bit in suspension at the end, or like that thread was just conveniently forgotten.
If it sounds like I've a lot of criticisms, it's mainly because I'm really invested in the story and its characters. Overall though, it's still a very strong conclusion to the duology, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It just didn't hit quite as much for me as the first one did, perhaps because I had a few months to think about what to expect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Slavery
Moderate: Death and Genocide
Minor: Transphobia