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insanebookperson'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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
noellegrace8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The lack of Dustfinger in this one is so disappointing! In many ways, he feels like a main character in books 1 and 2, but in 3 he feels a bit forgotten. I also don't love the second fake death. Mo should have been able to feel that he was still alive, so it just felt like purposefully leaving us in the dark for dramatic effect. I'm also not sure how I feel about all the different character perspectives she takes with narration in this one; it feels too nebulous. The other big issue I have with this one is Orpheus. He is just so horrible. It's like reading the Umbridge parts of Harry Potter. I honestly do not know if I want to read the new 4th installment when it comes out because I read it was centered around him. He's racist, a sexual predator, and completely self-obsessed.
I don't factor performance into audiobooks, but I'd give Allan Corduner 4/5 stars. There wasn't much to comment on; he's very run-of-the-mill, in that he doesn't have a ton of variance in voices, but his narration is fine enough.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Racism, Torture, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
This book does mention a lot of mild triggers due to its setting. Moderately mentioned are elements of a warring and classist (monarchical) society, some of which can be a bit jarring. The most intense elements are related to the capture and violence toward a main character who is attempting to right societal wrongs, a person who speaks to and controls fire, and a monarch who has been cursed with gortesque immortality.julells'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
orchidlilly'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
2.75
Violante rather comes into her own, moving from a somewhat tragic background figure to a somewhat competent and fully fleshed out one. It’s nice to see a fantasy book have a powerful female character, but Violante is far from perfect. After all, god forbid we have a female character without a love interest, so she has to be weirdly besotted with Mo for no good reason. Despite her relative independence, Violante, our only non-stereotyped female character, still spends most of her time waiting for the men to do the work that she’s not strong enough to do herself.
The men of the story, and the world of the book as a whole, have always been somewhat sexist in nature, but Inkdeath seems to really dial that up for no apparent reason. Maybe if this fantasy-branded sexism was in any way discussed as something needing fixed, it would have been alright, but as is the world and book seem to just accept it as the way things are, making me wonder if that’s not also how Funke views it.
Then there’s the love triangle. It’s kind of obvious that it was just shoehorned in to fit the rising popularity of love triangles in YA and middle-grade books at the time. If Doria had been introduced in the second book as an alternate love interest from the get-go, things would have felt more natural. But he only starts showing up here, in the last book, and so his addition feels a little off-kilter.
And just as an aside, I’ve never been huge on pregnancy subplots, and I feel that this one especially, takes away what little agency Resa had as a character and instead pushes her further into the simple role of worried mother and wife.
Now, this is a lot of complaining about a book that I’ve given three stars. It’s not a bad book by any means, nor is it a bad ending to a trilogy. It just feels like a bit of a letdown, is all.
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
padawan17'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
summersnitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment