Scan barcode
betweentheshelves'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
3.5
As a dragon book, this did feel unique, with all of the dragons essentially being trapped in another world. I would be interested in seeing more of this world in the next book, though!
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and War
princessrory'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, and Classism
sophiesmallhands's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War
kiwij96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Definitely could have done with more worldbuilding and plot written into the text. The characters were very "woe is me" at times where it wasn't needed. I appreciated how Everen's POV included the humans teaching him how their society worked in terms of how gender identity and pronouns worked. Also, was not a fan of the romance subplot. It would have worked much better if the characters just learned each other's surnames as an act of trust.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
hollowpointe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Holy shit
Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust.
All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both.
As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book.
The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling.
Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical content, and Abandonment
*Holy shit* *slight spoilers* Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust. All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book. The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling. Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.cookiecat73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War
norwegianforestreader'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
bookstarbri'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
4.75
When it comes to books with dragons, I go weak in the knees because dragons are SO cool. And this book truly didn't disappoint me. I think it was very close to perfection. I had a few nit-picky gripes, which I'll get into in a bit, but first I want to talk about how much I loved this book as a whole. I know a lot of people will not like the way it is written, and I can understand why. There are 5 POVs total, with it mostly going back and forth between 2 (and a third a few times as well, though not as frequently). This back and forth may be a little jarring especially since the POVs are not just different characters but also different styles of POV as well. We have one that is standard first person, one that is first but is also sort of told like a letter so it dips into second. The remaining ones are all third. I thought this was really cool and a very interesting way to write a story like this, and I appreciated the experimental storytelling a lot and really enjoyed it. It made me especially love Everen's chapters!
Onto the characters, I thought they were (mostly) great! I LOVED Arcady and Everen. The side characters were interesting as well. One thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars was that I was bored with Sorin's chapters in the middle? There were definitely times when I just wanted to skip her POV and go back to the main story. Her story fits into this one and it all ties together, and I actually loved her POVs in the beginning, but those middle ones dragged on just a bit. Otherwise, I was really captivated in this story pretty much from start to finish. I thought the pacing was great and the events leading up to the finale were amazing!
This book had some great twists as well. There were three times when my mouth dropped because I hadn't expected something. Truly, it was awesome how easily L.R. Lam was able to bring something up and take it somewhere I hadn't expected at all without it feeling like a cheap surprise.
This is the start of a series and I am so excited that it is! I can't WAIT to read book 2. I loved this ending it made me feel so many things. This book is a new favorite and I have high hopes for book 2!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Confinement
marleywrites'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
The first 12% of this book, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But then, it picked up tremendously and I became obsessed. I read about 60% in one sitting.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Animal death
gummifrog'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
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, and War