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shewhoroars's review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Suicide
jennaniho's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.0
The biggest takeaway I had from this story was the dynamic perspective offered through the eyes of both Darius and Larkyra, while still keeping the latter as the main focus. Most importantly, E.J. Mellow's narrative beautifully captures the weight of their concealed emotions and makes them remarkably relatable, underscoring the profound lesson that, we can often be our own adversaries or we can decide to be our own saviors. Likewise, the world building is not too specific but not too vague; just right to keep your imagination going and still retain a bit of mystery of "what will come next".
Yet, the biggest focus "Song of Forever Rains" has is towards the lesson that our voice is our biggest weapon and ally; revealing that mastering when and how to use it empowers us to be not only assertive and potent but ultimately, happy and capable of facing even the hardest of challenges.
Yet, the biggest focus "Song of Forever Rains" has is towards the lesson that our voice is our biggest weapon and ally; revealing that mastering when and how to use it empowers us to be not only assertive and potent but ultimately, happy and capable of facing even the hardest of challenges.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment
ender24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
A entertaining and wonderful book. I’ve fallen in love with the world and it’s characters, and I can’t wait to read the next two books. I was not expecting the romance, but I feel like it did not impede the story in any way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
restingconfusedface's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Characters: 86
World: 98
Plot: 78
Overall: 87
- strong female characters and friendships
- abusive parental figures
- spy/assassin
- the world makes me want to explore
- Balls and gowns
It’s a spy/assassin plot line in an expansive open world video game world with a dash of pride and prejudice and delightful characters.
There is something extremely delightful about this book. The world is fascinating and the way EJ Mellows writes it is transportive. This book feels like it could have easily been a video game with Kaipo being the fast travel option. The world feels like a critical role world. It is just delightful. And even with the rich and vibrant world it felt light like the world building didn’t slow you down like it often does for me making reading fantasy novels a bit more of a chore. Needless to say I’m obsessed with the world building. It was unique and gritty and dark while still being enchanting and beautiful and light. It was the perfect blend between the elegance of historical romance settings with their balls and gowns and castles and propriety and like a glorious expansive open world rpg like breath of the wild or xenoblade. And we’ve only seen a silver of this world in this book. I can not wait to see more with the second and third book.
The characters are delightful. Larkyra is funny and mischievous and adds so much levity to this book. Which sadly I’ve missed from a lot of the fantasy novels I’ve read. She is such a strong and kind heart that just makes me want to be her friend. Darius is cute and he seems like he’s constantly out of his depth when talking to Larkyra and her sisters. He reminds me of a stray kitten. I love the banter between Larkyra and Darius. And Naya is going to be such a fun next protagonist. And given how wonderful the development of all the characters thus far I am excited to learn more about some of the more stoic characters in the third book, Arabessa and Zimri.
That being said I found the romance plot line a bit lacking, I’m sorry that kind of hurt to say given all that I love about this book. It felt a bit rushed at the end like once the actual plot was taking a rest the romance subplot was like boom sex alright back to the murder. Not to say their relationship was not developed but I feel like their interactions were meant to develop either Larkyra or Darius individually but not them as a couple. Also given the historical setting I was expecting a bit more longing and pining and more tension.
And the plot was a tiny bit predictable.
World: 98
Plot: 78
Overall: 87
- strong female characters and friendships
- abusive parental figures
- spy/assassin
- the world makes me want to explore
- Balls and gowns
It’s a spy/assassin plot line in an expansive open world video game world with a dash of pride and prejudice and delightful characters.
There is something extremely delightful about this book. The world is fascinating and the way EJ Mellows writes it is transportive. This book feels like it could have easily been a video game with Kaipo being the fast travel option. The world feels like a critical role world. It is just delightful. And even with the rich and vibrant world it felt light like the world building didn’t slow you down like it often does for me making reading fantasy novels a bit more of a chore. Needless to say I’m obsessed with the world building. It was unique and gritty and dark while still being enchanting and beautiful and light. It was the perfect blend between the elegance of historical romance settings with their balls and gowns and castles and propriety and like a glorious expansive open world rpg like breath of the wild or xenoblade. And we’ve only seen a silver of this world in this book. I can not wait to see more with the second and third book.
The characters are delightful. Larkyra is funny and mischievous and adds so much levity to this book. Which sadly I’ve missed from a lot of the fantasy novels I’ve read. She is such a strong and kind heart that just makes me want to be her friend. Darius is cute and he seems like he’s constantly out of his depth when talking to Larkyra and her sisters. He reminds me of a stray kitten. I love the banter between Larkyra and Darius. And Naya is going to be such a fun next protagonist. And given how wonderful the development of all the characters thus far I am excited to learn more about some of the more stoic characters in the third book, Arabessa and Zimri.
That being said I found the romance plot line a bit lacking, I’m sorry that kind of hurt to say given all that I love about this book. It felt a bit rushed at the end like once the actual plot was taking a rest the romance subplot was like boom sex alright back to the murder. Not to say their relationship was not developed but I feel like their interactions were meant to develop either Larkyra or Darius individually but not them as a couple. Also given the historical setting I was expecting a bit more longing and pining and more tension.
And the plot was a tiny bit predictable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
sarahlizzie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Death of parent
mrtnk's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
sjb3752's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
0.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Self harm and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness
mortonsspoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
I absolutely adored this book and would read again! It has a cool Gothic vibe without being dreary. It was so beautifully written and the characters leapt off the page.
The only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me were the somewhat jarring flashbacks, most of which didn't really seem necessary to the plot and were generally dropped in mid-scene.
Even so, this book is very much worth a read and I highly recommend it!
The only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me were the somewhat jarring flashbacks, most of which didn't really seem necessary to the plot and were generally dropped in mid-scene.
Even so, this book is very much worth a read and I highly recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Blood and Death of parent
meganlowe87's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a solid book. It had romance, it had magic, it was lighthearted at times, and serious in others.
It didn’t wow my socks off, but I did enjoy it.
Darius is lovely, and Lakira was sweet.
Nya was awesome and I enjoyed her a lot.
I do think the world building, especially at the start could’ve been much better, especially when describing the girl’s powers and the thief kingdom. I had to string the dots together on my own from what I guessed.
I also like how it doesn’t stray from some touchy subjects.
The audiobook narrators are awesome and I enjoyed it a lot!
It didn’t wow my socks off, but I did enjoy it.
Darius is lovely, and Lakira was sweet.
Nya was awesome and I enjoyed her a lot.
I do think the world building, especially at the start could’ve been much better, especially when describing the girl’s powers and the thief kingdom. I had to string the dots together on my own from what I guessed.
I also like how it doesn’t stray from some touchy subjects.
The audiobook narrators are awesome and I enjoyed it a lot!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent
thereadinghammock's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
I love, love, loved the Bassette sisters and their supportive, and authentic sibling dynamic. Petty squabbles among themselves never once undermined the support, love, and trust they all have in each other. I actually used the notes feature on my Kindle for the first time pretty much ever and marked my theories and predictions (pretty much all of which turned out to be wrong, but that was entirely expected) because I was so enthralled by this book and needed to have those notes forever because reasons. While I don't mind the slow burn of Larkyra and Darius' romance, I would have liked a bit more of a stolen/secret romance between them, rather than just the last few chapters. As much as it played like a "will they/won't they" when we all knew they would, I wanted to see so much more between them! Though I did love that their first time together was literally the night before her engagement ball to his trash-human stepfather. It felt like the most wonderfully poetic "fuck you" to him I could imagine and it pleased me greatly.
The world of Aadlior is fascinating and I can't wait to dive back in with book 2 this fall as we follow Niya's story.
The world of Aadlior is fascinating and I can't wait to dive back in with book 2 this fall as we follow Niya's story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Despite the pretty extensive explicit warnings, they were handled in such a way that as a reader, I did not feel truly uncomfortable while reading; however, it is important to know that gaslighting abuse from step-parent to child is a prominent theme through the book. While resolved by the end, and the character themself feeling vindicated, it's an important, but heavy plot line.