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craines's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The book caught me early with a lovely hook, then took its time with world and character building. The early parts of the book were often a bit confusing due to all the new terms and description of the world, but didn't linger on any one for too long. By the 30-40% mark I found myself quite comfortable in this new world and enjoying it. The bits and pieces of the world coming together one at a time, forming a clearer and clearer picture pulled me through the pages.
The characters are fun and deep. While Joron is the PoV, I loved learning about the other characters as the story progressed, more than Joron himself for a good portion of the book.
The action was fun and engaging without being drawn out. I am quite excited to read the rest of this series.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
awaterswadesthrough'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 of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Trafficking
kylieqrada'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: Death, Blood, and Ableism
Moderate: War, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
_forestofpages'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
Graphic: Blood, Death, and War
Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders
drace556'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, War, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Child death, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual assault and Fire/Fire injury
kira_miller'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Xenophobia, Ableism, Blood, Death, Classism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, and Grief
rowan_reviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this, but I didn't LOVE it. There are some cultural aspects of the society that aren't challenged & made me feel... uncomfortable. Despite the culture being largely matriarchal, if a woman dies in childbirth her child is considered "weak" and "berncast", so they can never really advance in the society. Children born with birth defects have assigned careers based on what the birth defect is. Having any kind of "deformity" is seen as a negative thing, including from accidents during someone's life (i.e., burn scars). There are some hints that the MC might challenge the acceptance of this aspect of his society maybe in future novels, but tbh I'm not sure that I'm quite willing to stick it out in hopes of that.
The MC also has very little confidence & basically does what he's told & strives for approval from his captain. I'm not saying that wanting the approval of someone is a bad thing, just that it feels he lacks agency for a large portion of the book. That may be purposeful because of the background, and is somewhat understandable, but it gets tedious. It does build some tension towards the end as I kept hoping that he would go against orders.
The parts I enjoyed most were the magic surrounding the guillaime and arkesian - which weren't a large enough part of the novel to keep me hooked.
I haven't decided whether or not I'll read book 2 at this point. I have a long TBR and given that it took me a lot longer than it usually would to read a book of this length, I don't think I will.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcoholism, Ableism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Colonisation, Classism, Child death, Violence, War, Genocide, and Alcohol
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, and Fire/Fire injury
nymreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, and War
booksofdahlia'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
4.5
Moderate: Blood and Violence
carolined's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Xenophobia, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, and Ableism
An entire society explicitly based on ableism and child sacrifice presented as unquestioned by the characters.