The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
emily_mh'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
3.25
Rep: sapphic MC, lesbian (word not used even though there were opportunities to use it, and words like aromantic and asexual exist) MC, aroace MC
Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Gun violence, Classism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: imprisonment, loss of a loved one, fainting Minor: sick loved one, blackmail, theft, capital punishment, child birthmxbluet18'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? No
5.0
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I initially picked this up because I knew it has an asexual character in it, but it quickly became that I was invested in the characters (some more than others though) and I just had to finish it to find out where the story was going.
~
I read Fire Becomes Her last year and found myself loving the writing style and characters in that one, and had had Tarnished on my TBR for a while so I made it a priority when I managed to get hold of it. I've also used the book to talk about an important point in an essay I'm working on about asexuality in the written media.
~
For me, having asexual representation, and aromantic asexual representation is something I love to see in the books I read, especially if the ideas or the feelings portrayed are a depiction I can relate to or sympathise with. Suffice it to say, I loved the representation in the book, I loved the characters (or those I was supposed to love anyway), I loved the character arcs, and the plot was rich and delicate.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Grief
animaepanda's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief and Terminal illness
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Lesbophobia
The ace/arophobia is internalized ace/arophobia.tinysierra's review
- 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
3.75
This book lacked intensity and build up. Everything felt too convent and happened too easily, even when things went wrong it still worked out somehow.
Rowanâs
Also they were able to subdueÂ
Eliza was my favorite character. I love sneaky and strong female characters.
The discussion about aro and ace identity and labels⌠brb crying /pos
-Discussions about ableism and disability
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Pregnancy
meganlilyflower's review
3.5
The Good:
- Ace/aro rep: especially in moments of that characters POV when we are observing the romantic couple in the story.Â
- The queer couple are not the focus of the story but it doesnât feel like instalove either. They arenât just suddenly a couple, instead we get them becoming friends who trust each other while we the reader know that they have an observable connection and are attracted to each other. I love that one is clearly gay and one seems to be bi!
- The sci-fi elements: the clock tech especially was super cool to me. Some steampunk aesthetic without some of the steampunk tropes and without going all in on the style.Â
- I felt there was a lot of missed opportunity for those clock hearts to be the heart of the story. It felt like we forgot about the clock heart component and Nathanielâs ânever having maintenanceâ when that couldâve been usedÂ
- The climax felt rushed to me. Maybe it was because my last read was adult and almost 500 pages but I felt this couldâve been longer and given me more mundane interactions within the manor that added world building and gave us more tender moments with our queer couple
- The queer couple isnât the center of the story and I wish theyâd come into focus more often. It just was happening in the background (literally as we got the thought in the back of characters minds) The set up had some enemies to lovers potential and I wouldâve liked the see that pushed harder and followed through.Â
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Ableism and Medical content
reina's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was more scifi than steampunk. I was expecting more steampunk themes, since it had a character with a clockwork heart. I did enjoy the themes of reluctant friendships, plus the health and politics of planetary settlements. The world building wasn't very complex. It was steampunky in the sense that science is hand-waved away (and maybe the anti-establishment themes lol.)
I'm not marking queer themes as spoilers because it's not really a reveal, and there's too little rep:
For ace or asexual rep; I was glad to see it, but I wish there was more than one mention of Nathaniel's feelings and thoughts on it, after he realized he wasn't alone or 'broken'. It would have been nice for his thoughts in the wrap up, when we got a hint that the f/f relationship wasn't hidden. I appreciated that it was explicitly stated under terms of asexual and aromatic.
I wish there was some racial diversity, but I didn't pick up on any, if it was there. Both women are coded as white.
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
Minor: Xenophobia