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arthomas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
eve_o's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, and Alcohol
xtsukix's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Slavery
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
rachrreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
1emijoy'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: Gore, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Murder
bethfowler's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, 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.