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emmiej'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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Deportation
clovetra'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
edit: i lied even tho i said this book did flop in parts i actually don’t care because this book made me so emotional & it feels wrong not having this as a 5-star based on how much it made me feel
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Dementia
proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
It took a while to get into the book because there's a LOT of names. Names of characters, places and titles. Fortunatly there's lists of characters and unfamiliar words at the end of the book to help against the confusion, but it also kind of throwed me off track to have to check them. However, there's four "storytellers". Ead Duryan, a mage from the Priory of the Orange Tree, sent to protect Queen Sabran in Inys. Lord Arteloth Beck, close friend of Sabran. Tané, who's trained her whole life to become a dragon rider. Niclays Roos, an anatomist and alchemist, banished from Inys by the queen. My favorites quickly became Ead and Tané, while Niclays mostly felt unnecessary. "Loth" growed on me throughout the book, but I give my love to the female protagonists this time! Even Sabran, who I found unnerving to start with, became a favorite!
Religion and faith play a big part in this book and, as in our own world, have a large impact on things. I'm not very fond of this, but it's an important part of the story. The book is long - too long - and some scenes could have been cut entirely. Some things get solved a bit too easy, while others drag on. I also expected to see more of the dragons, but overall I quite enjoyed myself while reading.
I've spent almost 2 months in this world, doing a buddy read with a friend. It's been so much fun to talk about it every other week, and I feel like I got more out of the book this way. I do feel a bit empty now, to not spending anymore time with the characters, but at the same time I'm glad it's over!
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content
kappafrog'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
4.25
There is a wide variety of characters here of different shades of moral greyness. At first I really didn't like Sabran, but she grew on me over time; and as the book went on, I felt more mixed about Ead. Tané grew on me some as the story went on too. All of the characters in the book, including the many queer and female characters, were complex and multi-layered. Loth, Margret and Chassar were the most consistently likable, while Roos was the hardest to like but still sympathetic at times. Even the disgusting Kalyba was not a one-dimensional villain. The Priory was not what I expected, and I loved the evocation of different landscapes and cultures with clear inspirations from our world. The book's length felt merited since there were a lot of different political, magical, and character aspects to explore. I felt like my investment in the story and its characters really paid off. Shannon is not afraid to kill her characters, so there were real stakes at every point in the book. The finale was epic and also gave us enough time to spend with each character in the aftermath of the climax.
All in all, this was a great re-introduction to epic fantasy for me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy.
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child death
kelisabeth'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
justgothenough'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: Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jodean's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity
singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
My main gripe about this book was the pacing. Sometimes scenes that feel important to the plot are written like: blink and you'll miss it, and then there are pages after pages of something trivial. It got a lot worse towards the end: 500 pages of barely nothing happening, and then everything happens all at once.
The villains in this book could have been interesting, but we barely see some of them (the king of Yscalin for example), the others (e.g. Kalyba) are too busy doing monologues, and the Biggest and Baddest Villain of them all and the reason why all of this is happening is defeated just like that. We barely even get a description of it!
The ending was so confusing and over so quickly that I think that the author must have realised that she had written 500 pages already and hadn’t resolved anything. And in the end, everything got resolved so easily, the POV characters instinctively knew what to do, the evil was defeated and everyone lived happily ever after. What a disappointment.
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Deportation
zannayo'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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, and Deportation