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dcnarvaez'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, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity and Colonisation
Minor: Child death and Genocide
beckyyreadss'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
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual content
arcanegrrl'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: Genocide, Violence, and War
kiwij96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Not super in love with the idea that Karou was potentially being groomed by Kaz as it mentions in the beginning that they had been a couple for a while before their break-up and he is now 20 while she is 17. I also felt super uncomfortable with the Akiva and Karou romance plot too given the age gap there too.
My only other gripe is Chapter 22. It felt massively out of place and I had to reread the chapters either side of it to figure out how it fitted in with it all. Felt like an afterthought but misplaced in the sequencing.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Slavery, and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
sheyri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
rafacolog'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
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War
moonchild_cos'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: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Torture, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Trafficking
donatio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I liked the characters as well as the world-building but some things didn't sit right with me.
Furthermore I had a problem with some comments made in the book I can't recall specifically now and the fact that everyone seems to be beautiful (ly thin) in some way upsets me.
Still the story managed to draw me in, to care about the characters.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture
_alyssar_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Genocide, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
lisa_m'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
So I got the eBook and started reading it before going to bed. I just wanted to read a few chapters, but I couldn't put it down. I read one and on for multiple hours straight and I only got myself to stop after about 250 pages, because I was so invested in the story. And the only reason I did stop, was because I had to go to uni early the next day.
I finished the book today and it was amazing. The ending hurt me but I'm so excited to see what's coming next! I absolutely hate Thago and I assume we're going to see more of him in the next book, but I really don't want to.
All the twists and reveals where pretty good (at least to me). I mean, I guess I could have assumed some things, but I didn't have the time to think about it, because I was so mentally caught up in the story.
I prefered the chapters in the currently time over the ones in the past though. I feel like the backstory was all just bulked together and even though it was interesting to learn about, I just wanted to go back to the current time because we left off in such a crucial place.
I loved the setting of Prague, the art school and all the weird and amazing 'human' people (Zuzana). Karou was a very likeable protagonist in my opinion, even though she could be quite rash and stupid at times. But even though I was sometimes a bit annoyed by her and felt like she was doing things for absolutely no reason besides to further the plot (like going through the forbidden door.. ), I still liked her in the end. She is relatable in a way and also so far removed from anything at all relatable to normal humans.
Also the relationship between Karou and Akiva reminded me so so much of Hunt and Bryce? Like the whole soldier angel thing.. idk I constantly thought of them. Might be why I liked them so much even though we didn't get a lot of explanation and it was pretty instalovey (which is not normally my favourite..)
Also I really liked all the discussions of the war and perspectives of the different sides. I am very interested to see how the story continues and what more I'll get to learn about this world and its truths.
All in all I would highly recommend this book. I wish I had read it when I was a bit younger though, because I feel like that would have made me enjoy it even more. In my head I just imagine the protagonist being my age (19) instead of 17.
Laini Taylor is an author I kind of always expected to really enjoy reading from, but I never did. I really like the blurbs of her books but tbh I just didn't like the covers so that might have put me off a bit. I did really like her writing style though. It's so immersive! And the worldbuilding felt so real and thorough.
This is just a really good fantasy book and exactly what I wanted to read right now, so I guess it's also a 'right book - right time' kind of thing. :)
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War