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jo_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual assault
anna_eryn's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
takarakei's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Torture and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
midnacine'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
4.5
I had a hard time getting into this at first, which was really surprising to me cuz pirates are like... my thing. Around 80 pages, while I loved the characters introduced, I found myself just not clicking with the book as much as I wanted to. It could very well just be me taking time to warm to a new series, because I consider myself notorious on that front. It could have also just been that I was trying desperately to not pick up a new book as soon as it released (I've been avoiding spoilers like the plague). But I think the main culprit is just there's a ton of exposition that's not extremely necessary to the plot of the book- maybe it could have been saved for later, even for book two. But once we were introduced to Vataea, that something clicked.
I'm not sure if I just sensed the missing dynamic when Vataea wasn't there or what, because it wasn't her character itself that made the book hard to put down, just the fact that she kind of pulled everything together. All of the sudden, I could actually read 20-40 pages at a time without even realizing it. And the little bit of romance between Amora and Bastian coming to fruition didn't hurt, either.
To me, the best part about this book were the last 150 pages. Riding the emotional journey of discovering the Montara family's secret with Amora was incredibly satisfying, as well were all of the battle scenes we get to experience from her perspective. And the internal struggle she faces in the final act? It was the nail in the coffin that got me to connect with Amora on a deeper level.
Overall, I really enjoy Adalyn Grace's writing style and I look forward to reading the second! Maybe I'll even add Belladonna to my TBR soon!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
angstifies'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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol
offbrandclubsoda'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? No
3.5
The world building was decent, though the explanation of soul magic was a bit confusing and hard to follow. There was some info-dumping at the beginning which always turns me off a bit, but it wasn’t unforgivable.
I thought the plot was somewhat rushed, and I especially thought the romance was built up too quickly and didn’t feel real to me. I like when the author makes me work for it haha
I was disappointed that mermaids weren’t more involved in the plot.
In one sentence, I would say the book has a similar vibe to a Court of Thorns and Roses, but not as good.
Spice level: 🌶🌶/5
Specific to the audiobook:
I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely love audiobooks, so a negative review is rare from me. Unfortunately, I strongly disliked the narration of this book and would recommend skipping the audiobook. The narrator seemed too focused on creating different voices for each character, and ended up making most of them sounds incredibly annoying…I also noticed some weird editing where it was obvious that different takes had been spliced together. Finally, the narrator’s constant pronunciation of silent G’s grated my nerves the entire book. (“ding-Guh-y”, “sing-Guh-ing”, etc).
Graphic: Torture and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
katreadswaytoomuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
There were a lot of characters used mostly has plot devices and had no real value in my opinion. The MC is self-righteous, exercises almost no strategic planning, and believes in her divine right to rule. Overall, I found her horribly unlikeable.
The main antagonist also has the same savior complex as the mc, but his motivations are unconvincing. This could have been a lot better if had genuine philanthropic tendencies rather than appearing bad for the sake of being bad.
I might have liked this a little more if I didn’t read it on audio. The narrator wasn’t a great choice either. Some of the characters sounded whiny, and I didn’t enjoy listening to them speak.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
stormywolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Unabridged Length: 12.4 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, this was a hard book to sit through, especially in the first half where Ferrick is most involved. I can't really blame the reader, Shayna Small, for the choice, as it had to have gone through direction/approval in order to be used, but I can't say it didn't affect my overall enjoyment either. Regardless, I'd still recommend this as a solid audiobook production, and I look forward to experiencing the sequel.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault and Slavery
Much of the main character's magic is fueled by her/another's blood, teeth, and body parts, with fire being a main implement of torture.nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.0
I did enjoy this book but it was kind of slowed paced in regards that it took literally the whole book to get to where they were going and the defeat of the “bad guy” was wrapped up in like 3 chapters. Things were a bit too convenient.
I really did love Bastian. He’s your typical bad boy with a heart of gold. He’s honestly the only character I truly cared about lol
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship