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purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Undeniably beautiful writing in a turn of the century fairytale that is groundedly gritty and soaringly ethereal. I don't care for circuses, but it was the exact right venue for this story. This one didn't knock me off my feet quite as much as The Starless Sea, which I read first and with no expectations. Partly, I think, because I wasn't as enamored with Marco as I maybe was supposed to be and I wasn't as satisfied with the ending here, but mostly because:
"The finest of pleasure are always the unexpected ones."
Definitely recommend for fans of The Starless Sea and Alix Harrow's Ten Thousand Doors of January.
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol
Abuse of magic/violation of personal agency: stealing memories, advancing by magically enhanced charm and lookskatvou'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
3.75
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
This review is for my first re read of this book, which I originally gave 4 or 5 stars (can’t remember)
!!!This will have spoilers so skip if you haven’t read the book!!!
The things I loved:
The things I didn’t like:
Marco’s relationship with Isobel. He was kinda terrible to her. He fell for Celia the moment he saw her, but didn’t break up with Isobel until 15 years later… like yes Isobel could’ve taken the hint that he didn’t like her anymore but it was really sh*tty of him to not just tell her that it was over. He knew Isobel still loved him, or he wouldn’t have broken up with her at all. He just let that go on for 15 years…… another thing about their relationship that bothered me, is if you pay attention, towards the end Isobel says she was younger than Bailey when she met Marco. Bailey was 15 when Isobel met him, Marco was 19 when he met Isobel. So Isobel had to have been 14 at the oldest…. That makes me uncomfortable.
The competition. I liked that it wasn’t action heavy, but I felt like there was so little focus on the competition that it just felt a bit low stakes. Not even just that but it hardly felt like there was a competition at all.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Death of parent
A sort of magical equivalent of terminal illness, stabbing, depression, an unhealthy romantic relationship (side romance), pedophilic relationship (14 & 19 when they get together, side romance)zoeelora's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
the_reading_wren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
sargasso_c'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? No
3.5
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
saucywench813's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content and Abandonment
Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
kaybeereads'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
4.75
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
spookily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting