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esterslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
khea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Trafficking
josiee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
the_ash37's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Addiction
arianwen_evans's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Spectacular writing, I really enjoy Bardugo's use of different perspectives for each chapter. Whenever a chapter finished on a cliffhanger I whooped for joy when I found that the character change would explain to me the inner workings of the another character's mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, and Classism
arielfarren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
There were so many things I loved about this book. I loved the morally grey characters, the banter, the plot and how I never knew what was going to happen next and if Kaz would pull it off, I loved all three of the romance plots (even though it was a little unconventional for the main characters to be paired with one another), the friendships, and the crossover of characters from the Shadow and Bones series. The ending alone I would give 5 stars—if was so satisfying and heart wrenching, feeling like the perfect conclusion of the series. A major theme of this book is hope and healing from what’s happened to you. They didn’t have perfect lives, but the Crows are alive and fighting for a chance at their happiness.
The Crows struggle with gambling addictions, learning and physical disabilities, PTSD, etc.—they are showcased as criminals, and at times untouchable, but are still very much human.
Inej and Kaz might’ve been my favorite couple as they both undergo so much growth as individuals and together as a relationship is unconventional to them. For each other, they slowly tested their limits and showed love in their own personal ways; Kaz changing Inej’s bandages despite his touch aversion, Inej always being near, and my favorite, Kaz reuniting Inej with her parents.
Favorite Quotes:
“I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”
“You’re better than waffles, Matthias Helvar.”
“He doesn’t say goodbye. He just lets go.”
The Crows struggle with gambling addictions, learning and physical disabilities, PTSD, etc.—they are showcased as criminals, and at times untouchable, but are still very much human.
Inej and Kaz might’ve been my favorite couple as they both undergo so much growth as individuals and together as a relationship is unconventional to them. For each other, they slowly tested their limits and showed love in their own personal ways; Kaz changing Inej’s bandages despite his touch aversion, Inej always being near, and my favorite, Kaz reuniting Inej with her parents.
Favorite Quotes:
“I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”
“You’re better than waffles, Matthias Helvar.”
“He doesn’t say goodbye. He just lets go.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Torture, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
tbhsunday's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault
mary_do_12's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
„I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together —knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do, we never stop fighting.“
This book quite literally clenched my soul, wrenched it, and threw it out of the window. I don’t have any words to describe how amazingly this is written, not to mention the brilliantly created plot line. Leigh Bardugo, you have all my respect and admiration. And the way you not only created an incredible story, but brought this incredible sense of humor in it, is simply unbelievable.
As someone whose native language is not english, this was hard to read at times. I usually don’t have problems with english books, in fact, they’re all I read, but the vocabulary in this series was just a little different. This is something that I discovered in the Shadow and Bone series too, but I think that‘s a sign of the greatness of the writing. There is so much happening in these books, it’s hard to comprehend for me sometimes. And I think I’m not smart enough (or at least I wasn’t putting enough effort in) to fully understand every move they were scheming. Goodness, how could I, these people are brilliant. The world Bardugo managed to create is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever and I can’t get around being so grateful for being able to spend some time with these amazing characters.
We don’t even have to talk about
Kaz, he’s simply a genius. Much more than that, he’s a character you cannot help but sympathizing with, despite his questionable actions. Just like the other characters, he is neither fully good nor fully bad but I think that makes him even more lovable. Seeing more vulnerable parts of him, especially in this book, shifts the readers perspective a bit and helps to see what is behind that clever boy that managed to not only change but almost reign certain parts of his world at such a young age. Seeing his trauma and how he had to deal with it makes me admire him even more.
Inej. My beloved Inej. The amount of strength she has is out of this world. Her character is one of the best written ones I’ve ever read about. The way she described fear holds so much power, dang it, she holds so much power. I love that she was the first one directly involved in their plans and the way she was so close to Kaz from the beginning. Now some may say Kaz never trusted anyone fully and yes, even she didn’t know all about him, especially in the beginning. I feel like both of them were still loners, even when they got closer. But considering that Kaz was always really cautious about who he trusted, the fact that he himself said that he trusted her speaks so much more. The way they cared about each other even as independent thieves and fighters melts my heart. Also, the scene where he helped her with her bandages was just- AEKGDJABABSB
Sorry. Had to let that out. Those two human beings have my whole heart.
Nina is straight up a badass. She was from the very beginning and not only I admit that I wish to be like her, the others did too. I love when they talked about something they were not super good at and said they wished to be as good as another character. I love how in her relationship with Matthias, she was being the more dominant one at times and I love her bravery and how she stuck with her values even when he had different ones. Her rescuing him even though he was really freaking mad at her shows just how much she stands by her promises and beliefs. I mean, do we even have to talk about their relationship? The banter, the anger, yes, maybe the toxicity, but DANG they did that shit so well.
Matthias. Oh goodness, Matthias. I like how they author gave everyone different opinions and values, I like that Inej and and Matthias believed in a god and that even though the others didn’t agree with them, they still respected their beliefs. I have to admit, Matthias had questionable values to me at the start but I love that because it makes me develop a kind of respect for him and not reducing him to his opinions. I really didn’t expect him to die at all, and it broke my heart. He had so much character development and all that for nothing? And the fact that him maturing, changing his opinions and moving away from things that he realized were wrong cost him his life in the end? Heartbreaking. He could’ve died at any point in the missions but it had to be at the very end, by someone he once was, too. And what all that did to Nina? I don’t even wanna imagine. Goodness, they’re all so strong.
Jesper. I feel like he has similarities with Kenji from Shatter Me and I don’t know why. I mean, they don’t have the same sense of humor or whatever. Maybe it’s his connection to Kaz. Him being the only one who had contact to his loving father made him different from the others. I like that he thought he was kind of spoiled because of that, even when it’s definitely not true. He went through so much, too. I like his flaws, the fact that he tried to hide his gift and made it seem like he was fine to the others. He was stronger than he thought.
Wylan. Wylan was just the innocent little guy that somehow got caught up in a dangerous heist and wasn’t able to get out of it after. I like that he was kind of an outsider in the group because he really didn‘t like doing bad stuff but I also like that he changed and somehow became a little bit more morally grey. Still, his innocence stuck with him and made him different. My view on him really changed during this book as I saw more of what his father had done to him. That poor guy.
Summed up, this book was perfection. No arguments. Go read it. Right now.
This book quite literally clenched my soul, wrenched it, and threw it out of the window. I don’t have any words to describe how amazingly this is written, not to mention the brilliantly created plot line. Leigh Bardugo, you have all my respect and admiration. And the way you not only created an incredible story, but brought this incredible sense of humor in it, is simply unbelievable.
As someone whose native language is not english, this was hard to read at times. I usually don’t have problems with english books, in fact, they’re all I read, but the vocabulary in this series was just a little different. This is something that I discovered in the Shadow and Bone series too, but I think that‘s a sign of the greatness of the writing. There is so much happening in these books, it’s hard to comprehend for me sometimes. And I think I’m not smart enough (or at least I wasn’t putting enough effort in) to fully understand every move they were scheming. Goodness, how could I, these people are brilliant. The world Bardugo managed to create is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever and I can’t get around being so grateful for being able to spend some time with these amazing characters.
We don’t even have to talk about
Kaz, he’s simply a genius. Much more than that, he’s a character you cannot help but sympathizing with, despite his questionable actions. Just like the other characters, he is neither fully good nor fully bad but I think that makes him even more lovable. Seeing more vulnerable parts of him, especially in this book, shifts the readers perspective a bit and helps to see what is behind that clever boy that managed to not only change but almost reign certain parts of his world at such a young age. Seeing his trauma and how he had to deal with it makes me admire him even more.
Inej. My beloved Inej. The amount of strength she has is out of this world. Her character is one of the best written ones I’ve ever read about. The way she described fear holds so much power, dang it, she holds so much power. I love that she was the first one directly involved in their plans and the way she was so close to Kaz from the beginning. Now some may say Kaz never trusted anyone fully and yes, even she didn’t know all about him, especially in the beginning. I feel like both of them were still loners, even when they got closer. But considering that Kaz was always really cautious about who he trusted, the fact that he himself said that he trusted her speaks so much more. The way they cared about each other even as independent thieves and fighters melts my heart. Also, the scene where he helped her with her bandages was just- AEKGDJABABSB
Sorry. Had to let that out. Those two human beings have my whole heart.
Nina is straight up a badass. She was from the very beginning and not only I admit that I wish to be like her, the others did too. I love when they talked about something they were not super good at and said they wished to be as good as another character. I love how in her relationship with Matthias, she was being the more dominant one at times and I love her bravery and how she stuck with her values even when he had different ones. Her rescuing him even though he was really freaking mad at her shows just how much she stands by her promises and beliefs. I mean, do we even have to talk about their relationship? The banter, the anger, yes, maybe the toxicity, but DANG they did that shit so well.
Matthias. Oh goodness, Matthias. I like how they author gave everyone different opinions and values, I like that Inej and and Matthias believed in a god and that even though the others didn’t agree with them, they still respected their beliefs. I have to admit, Matthias had questionable values to me at the start but I love that because it makes me develop a kind of respect for him and not reducing him to his opinions.
Jesper. I feel like he has similarities with Kenji from Shatter Me and I don’t know why. I mean, they don’t have the same sense of humor or whatever. Maybe it’s his connection to Kaz. Him being the only one who had contact to his loving father made him different from the others. I like that he thought he was kind of spoiled because of that, even when it’s definitely not true. He went through so much, too. I like his flaws, the fact that he tried to hide his gift and made it seem like he was fine to the others. He was stronger than he thought.
Wylan. Wylan was just the innocent little guy that somehow got caught up in a dangerous heist and wasn’t able to get out of it after. I like that he was kind of an outsider in the group because he really didn‘t like doing bad stuff but I also like that he changed and somehow became a little bit more morally grey. Still, his innocence stuck with him and made him different. My view on him really changed during this book as I saw more of what his father had done to him. That poor guy.
Summed up, this book was perfection. No arguments. Go read it. Right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War
anton13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Omg… just omg. There is no praise high enough for this masterpiece. Leigh Bardugo is a phenomenal writer and I’m honestly left speechless. I’ve laughed, cried and been furious. All emotions really. But at the end it left me satisfied. I find it amazing how she brings me to the edge of my seat and ties everything together into a beautiful end. This is definitely one of those books I could just reread again and again and again really.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Trafficking, and Abandonment
arya3155's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Pregnancy