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corabookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
maryyyyyy's review against another edition
2.5
This book has rape (including rape of an underaged girl), graphic murder scenes, drugs/drug overdose death, and a lot of violence and gore. It constantly reminds the reader of all of the gruesome ways that people can die. Some of it felt like it was just added for the shock factor. Somehow all of the characters just continue along like they don't all need therapy 🙄
Loved the magic and lore behind this story but it was much more graphic and violent than what I generally prefer to read. My bad for not doing my due diligence, but also their bad for not publishing any TWs in the book.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lamianoctalis'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cursing, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
greenan26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Vomit, Medical content, and Medical trauma
_meganrose'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
corrieroe'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
j_the_human'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
5.0
Obviously this is Leigh Bardugo so I knew it was going to cook but I did not expect exactly HOW MUCH.
Pros:
- dark. Really dark. This is the dark in dark academia I’ve been looking for.
- secret societies! Horrible unethical rituals!! A very traumatized girl not really given a choice but to get in the middle of it!!
- complex, imperfect characters who you root for anyways because goddamn do they just deserve something good for once
- REVENGE
- 0 shying away from hard topics. Bardugo did not come to play (and please do check the trigger warnings)
Cons:
- I think there were a few points that information was repeated almost verbatim and that was a teeny tiny bit annoying, but also most people probably didn’t read this in all of 2 days like I did.
- I’m gonna reiterate that this is dark because if you’re not in the place for it, it could be REALLY bad
Overall:
I’ve not given a dark academia book more than a 3 star before but this gave me all that elitism, all that “the rich get away with it”, the “if you have what they want you can get in but never be one of them” vibe that is quintessential to dark academia, but in a way that engaged with the themes and how otherwise good people could fall foul of them, not just making everyone into cartoonishly evil people, because that’s not how the world works! This was dark and gritty and punch you in the teeth with violence and gore and horror, but kept from despair by genuine human connection and that sometimes, even on the worst days, eating junk food with a friend is enough to keep you hanging on.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury
emperor_aj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Cursing, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
stephliljazz'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
emmirosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I will be honest and say I don't think I would have gotten through this book, let alone so quickly, if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator does a really good job and makes the experience really enjoyable. I love the dark and gritty world Leigh Bardugo builds for us in our world today. I think the way she writes and tells this story is unique in how she flip-flops between timelines, giving us little bits of information to trail us to the big finish. That being said there is a lot of world lore that gets thrown at us at once which can be a lot to take in.
I love Alex Stern as our main character. She's tough and gritty and I love seeing how she fights to overcome and conquer everything in her life, despite everything going against her. I loved seeing how Leigh Bardugo deals with the themes throughout the book, of race and class. Of an underdog getting a second chance at life, but at what cost? Just seeing how she writes and deals with Alex Stern's moral grayness throughout this book.
This book is definitely not for the faint of heart and is not a book for everyone but I'm glad I at least gave it a chance. I'm having mixed feelings about the ending but I'm interested to see what the sequel brings.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury