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findmeinunderland's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Loved, loved, loved.
First of all the cover is just so aesthetically pleasing, even more so after actually falling in love with the characters…
I kind of equate it to being about Alex’s tattoos. Alex’s most prominent tattoos are the snakes that wrap around her collar bones, and I feel like they would be the epitome of her shame when it comes to her tattoos, it’s the most blatant in the macabre nature of the art on her body, spider webs are a more common choice, other things could be given an alternative explanation of importance, but not many people, especially those within the stereotypes of ivy league alumnus, have two huge black snakes curling around their shoulders. I love the symbolism of it being on the cover of the book because Alex used the stereotypes of her outward appearance to avoid attachment, when given the opportunity to flee her environment she covers them as a way of separating herself from the memories she had of being ostracized. Her tattoos later become a different kind of cover, an armor.
I saw some people Say they loved darlington but thought it was hypocritical that he judged Alex for killing someone, since at the end of the book we find out his fate is connected to the fact that he is a murderer.but Let’s be real here, his shock said more about him than it did about Alex. I think darlington unplugged or smothered his grandfather to finally give him piece, I think he colors himself as a monster because of that experience. Enter Alex, who makes him feel like someone with purpose. His whole life he turned towards magic to heal him from the trauma of his parents, I think his grandfathers death took something away from his obsession of magic and the hopefulness it represented to him, until he met Alex who reshaped his view of magic because of her abilities and what she had been through. To learn that the person who reignites your purpose in life is guilty of the same actions you hate yourself for has to be so overwhelming in that it probably completely disillusioned him.
I even saw some people say Bardugo tried to hard to be dark in her content by making Alex’s trauma explicit but failed to give the character any justice, but my response is that the entire present day timeline is Alex’s justice…. Alex was abused and violated by something the most privileged people she knew saw as a gift. It is a widely known horrible part of our reality that the world doesn’t believe or protect victims, it doesn’t protect women. The fact that so many people saw her trauma even if she didn’t want them to and completely wrote her off so they didn’t have to deal with what it meant, is the most realistic part of her character. She was poor, a woman of color, homeless at more than one point in her life…I can think of nothing more realistic that her not getting feasible, malleable justice. But to say she got none at all would be wrong, Alex’s justice was cosmic and metaphorically and more meaningful than some get in the real world, she gained a different sense of self worth imprinting herself onto Tara’s circumstances, fighting to find out what happened to tara meant acknowledging that she and Alex were one in the same— at least in The sense that the world values them the same, she became attached to Tara because she saw herself in a dead body that no one else seemed to care about and couldn’t help but imprint on that experience. Alex knew the world valued her and Tara the same, she saw the parallels between Tara and herself and yet she still came to the conclusion that Tara deserved better than what she got in death, and in life. Those thoughts are more kind than Alex was to herself on a normal basis, and maybe they wouldn’t have meant anything if Alex wasn’t the narrator but she was, she was the one aligning their value, and ultimately accepting that she deserved better than what she got out of life…Alex’s justice was aligning her value with every victim belbam took and saying that they all deserved better.
First of all the cover is just so aesthetically pleasing, even more so after actually falling in love with the characters…
I kind of equate it to being about Alex’s tattoos. Alex’s most prominent tattoos are the snakes that wrap around her collar bones, and I feel like they would be the epitome of her shame when it comes to her tattoos, it’s the most blatant in the macabre nature of the art on her body, spider webs are a more common choice, other things could be given an alternative explanation of importance, but not many people, especially those within the stereotypes of ivy league alumnus, have two huge black snakes curling around their shoulders. I love the symbolism of it being on the cover of the book because Alex used the stereotypes of her outward appearance to avoid attachment, when given the opportunity to flee her environment she covers them as a way of separating herself from the memories she had of being ostracized. Her tattoos later become a different kind of cover, an armor.
I even saw some people say Bardugo tried to hard to be dark in her content by making Alex’s trauma explicit but failed to give the character any justice, but my response is that the entire present day timeline is Alex’s justice…. Alex was abused and violated by something the most privileged people she knew saw as a gift. It is a widely known horrible part of our reality that the world doesn’t believe or protect victims, it doesn’t protect women. The fact that so many people saw her trauma even if she didn’t want them to and completely wrote her off so they didn’t have to deal with what it meant, is the most realistic part of her character. She was poor, a woman of color, homeless at more than one point in her life…I can think of nothing more realistic that her not getting feasible, malleable justice. But to say she got none at all would be wrong, Alex’s justice was cosmic and metaphorically and more meaningful than some get in the real world, she gained a different sense of self worth imprinting herself onto Tara’s circumstances, fighting to find out what happened to tara meant acknowledging that she and Alex were one in the same— at least in The sense that the world values them the same, she became attached to Tara because she saw herself in a dead body that no one else seemed to care about and couldn’t help but imprint on that experience. Alex knew the world valued her and Tara the same, she saw the parallels between Tara and herself and yet she still came to the conclusion that Tara deserved better than what she got in death, and in life. Those thoughts are more kind than Alex was to herself on a normal basis, and maybe they wouldn’t have meant anything if Alex wasn’t the narrator but she was, she was the one aligning their value, and ultimately accepting that she deserved better than what she got out of life…Alex’s justice was aligning her value with every victim belbam took and saying that they all deserved better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
taysa_gzd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Ackingly underwhelming, terrible pacing. The first half of the book was really hard to get through, but then, it became an addictive read, only to be let down by the post twist by the end.
As it aims to be the first book of a series, I think it does a good job at laying down the setting for a hopefully better sequel, because I do see a lot of potential for this series, I just don't want to be let down again.
As it aims to be the first book of a series, I think it does a good job at laying down the setting for a hopefully better sequel, because I do see a lot of potential for this series, I just don't want to be let down again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
lisaam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol
aseel_reads's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
5.0
2023: even on reread, I still love this book. The plot is very cool and I am obsessed with the world.
2019: Genius, Bardugo is an absolute genuis. This plot was so brilliant, just like the whole concept was amazing, I love this book so much
2019: Genius, Bardugo is an absolute genuis. This plot was so brilliant, just like the whole concept was amazing, I love this book so much
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
collyofthewobbles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I am used to read Leigh Bardugos YA, so this is a switch being her first Adult Fantasy book.
This is A LOT darker than i thought it would be. But not surprising really.
I found it hard to keep hold of what was going on. Although I liked Alex, and i was intrqued by her past and what makes her tick.
I found the constant time jumping very difficult to follow. And the constant world building hard to grasp.
The plot would just be getting going, and then you switch to something else. Constantly adding more layers, so that it would ditract you from the original plot.
I like the premis of this book but it felt too much. The mytholodgy was sound, but there was so much of it, the charecters and story got lost.
There were about 3 ending in this book. Personally i could have had less building and more charecter.
I can see what the Author was going for, I think maybe I wasn't the right reader for it.
It's not a bad book, just complicatedAnd many trigger warnings.
This is A LOT darker than i thought it would be. But not surprising really.
I found it hard to keep hold of what was going on. Although I liked Alex, and i was intrqued by her past and what makes her tick.
I found the constant time jumping very difficult to follow. And the constant world building hard to grasp.
The plot would just be getting going, and then you switch to something else. Constantly adding more layers, so that it would ditract you from the original plot.
I like the premis of this book but it felt too much. The mytholodgy was sound, but there was so much of it, the charecters and story got lost.
There were about 3 ending in this book. Personally i could have had less building and more charecter.
I can see what the Author was going for, I think maybe I wasn't the right reader for it.
It's not a bad book, just complicatedAnd many trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Violence
ronan_lesh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.25
CW: child sexual abuse, rape, violence
I was worried about this book because of the content warnings (or rather, and more importantly, the lack thereof.)
As awful as some of the scenes are to read (the on-the-page child rape is especially nauseating), they all serve the story of survivor Galaxy “Alex” Stern.
Bardugo writes Alex with compassion and honesty, presenting Alex’s prickly personality without judging her for it.
Alex’s POV was so satisfying to follow, much more so than her companion Darlington’s.
(My dislike of Darlington has more to do with preference than anything else. Darlington acts as the novel’s Gansey and I could have done without him.)
The story is creepy and offers twists on twists on twists with interesting commentary on privilege, rape culture, and trauma. Just when I thought the book was done, it hit me with ANOTHER twist.
At least the novel wraps up its main mystery before ending with a sequel hook.
Overall, this is a solid horror-fantasy novel with characters I wouldn’t mind reading about in the future.
(Minor spoiler: I don’t know if there’s an Alex Stern/Abel Turner ship happening, but I HOPE SO.)
I was worried about this book because of the content warnings (or rather, and more importantly, the lack thereof.)
As awful as some of the scenes are to read (the on-the-page child rape is especially nauseating), they all serve the story of survivor Galaxy “Alex” Stern.
Bardugo writes Alex with compassion and honesty, presenting Alex’s prickly personality without judging her for it.
Alex’s POV was so satisfying to follow, much more so than her companion Darlington’s.
(My dislike of Darlington has more to do with preference than anything else. Darlington acts as the novel’s Gansey and I could have done without him.)
The story is creepy and offers twists on twists on twists with interesting commentary on privilege, rape culture, and trauma. Just when I thought the book was done, it hit me with ANOTHER twist.
At least the novel wraps up its main mystery before ending with a sequel hook.
Overall, this is a solid horror-fantasy novel with characters I wouldn’t mind reading about in the future.
(Minor spoiler: I don’t know if there’s an Alex Stern/Abel Turner ship happening, but I HOPE SO.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism
emberysing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship