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cicizzy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
But the writing style bothered me. I can’t even say what it was, maybe I was just too tired to but I felt like I had to focus a lot more than usual while reading. Maybe it’s just that it felt like there are no “unnecessary” sentences. If you miss a sentence you can actually miss important information. There were no drawn out descriptions of places or longer conversations. Everything was short and to the point. I think when it comes to that so would have liked to see a bit more of the worlds and Londons. The lack of description could make it feel a bit “flat” at times and I think it was a bit of a wasted potential. But it is also just the first volume and I hope that the worlds will be explored a bit more in the future volumes.
It also didn’t exactly feel like the early 19th century for me but Gray London also didn’t play a big role.
I‘m looking forward to the rest of the series.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
lenorenore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
lisa07xie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
valerian_honeybee'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: Addiction, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol and War
mobymaize'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
4.5
Planning on reading the sequels at some point!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Main character uses magic by through self harm. Just a heads up.readingwithkaitlyn'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? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, Sexual content, Excrement, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol
moondragon8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I'm gonna be honest: I picked this one up mostly because I dabble frequently in Fallen London, and the premise of more Weird Londons seemed very in line with my taste. Unfortunately, this was not nearly as Londony as I had hoped, despite the high rate of Londons per London, and I had forgotten I kinda hate high fantasy.
Okay, hate is a strong word. To the book's credit: the prose is strong, there's a few really beautiful lines, and the worldbuilding is very solid and interesting, and conveyed in a way that isn't overwhelming but doesn't leave you in the dark. However, to me it seemed that the focus given to the (very rich and engaging!) world meant that the characters were sort of left to the wayside.
That's not to say there weren't some fun characters. Lila, the top hat wearing wannabe-pirate, was very fun, and arguably had a little character arc. I also liked the rakish Prince Rhy, when we saw him, and there were a couple very classically Londony side characters. (The weird (Danish?) regents of White London were good villains but deeply unpleasant characters– they gave me Game of Thrones vibes, which is a part of the British literary canon I could do without. Also, vaguely weird that they're Fantasy Danish and their magical attack dog is named Holland?? Were there Implications there I wasn't getting?)
Kell, though, was kind of a blank slate, which was a bit disappointing. He did spend a good portion of the book
My final note is that I was initially a bit concerned to see that this was a trilogy, but in the end was quite satisfied with how all the plot threads wrapped up. This book was a fun step outside my comfort zone, but it didn't force me to keep reading if I wasn't feeling it, which I really appreciated. I was a little disappointed to
(...Actually, I just realized they do leave one mystery hanging— something about Kell's special knife having K. L. on it, and the mystery of his origins, is mentioned at the beginning and then kinda dropped throughout and never explained or even brought up, which is probably why I didn't recall it until literally just now. Ah well.)
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Colonisation
katelynprice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Alcohol
baearles'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Torture, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The plot was good, the characters were good, and I really like its pace.
Especially in the end, I felt like some of the battles were a bit short and shallow? However, I am aware that this is a trilogy, and will give the end game a chance to be tension I'm looking for.
I would very much recommend this to any fantasy fan who likes a bit of a blood bath and very interesting world-building. There's elemental magic, alternative worlds, humorous dialogue, and a small romance sub-plot that doesn't take up tedious space at all.
Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use and Sexual content