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princesspotion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Racism and War
baroo92'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
4.25
Moderate: Murder, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Racism and Torture
bendersreads'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War, Violence, and Racism
dorothysbookshelf'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Racial slurs
Minor: Cursing, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
strong themes of terrorism and racism between fictitious groupsreadwithde'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? No
4.25
I have to say, this might be one of my favorite fictional worlds, and the story happening around and to the MCs is so overwhelmingly amazing. Mare, a simple thief and Red girl ends up having an amazing ability, just like the elite Silvers who rule. Like many female leads, she is thrust into this new world of court, politics, and betrayal, where only power and strength are honored.
Unlike the other heroines, Mare remains thoroughly different. She doesn't learn courtly intrigue, she doesn't come to understand the Silvers, and she never chooses romance over her family, her friends, and her Red blood. The comfort and protection and specialness never trick her into forgetting the pain and atrocities of her people. Also, she trains a bit, but she is still outmatched by those who have had decades of work; at the end of the book, she is stronger, but not unrecognizable. It's refreshing.
I saw a few of the twists coming, but it didn't run the story for me. The princes Cal and Maven are interesting and consistent, the Scarlet Guard is active as its own entity (aka not waiting around for the MCs), and the Silvers all have their own games and loyalty.
I loved it, and I'm dying for the next book.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Torture, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and War
llsugarspicell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Blood
sofmar917's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Police brutality, and Genocide
Minor: Death of parent
safety_pin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, and Toxic relationship
linguisticfanatic's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
However, here's where I get annoyed. Within days (I think it was a couple weeks.) she's suddenly perfectly fine with the second prince figuring out that she's a rebel and is all gungho to work with him. She's perfectly willing to think poorly of the prince who didn't execute her when she tried to steal from him without knowing it. A prince that got her a job so she wouldn't be sent to the front line of the war. A prince that was saying things that showed he considered her to be human when the king was talking to her after her imprisonment. One glance at a room full of armor and war books and she's perfectly fine thinking the worst of him. This is also fine with me if a bit extreme. She has no reason to look for the good in silver blood even when one is trying to show that he's different.
Except, she doesn't show that attitude to the second prince. He's given her no reason to believe all the stuff he's spouting about wanting things to change. He's shown nothing to indicate that he's been doing small things before she met him to take consideration for the red bloods; nothing to show he's different from his mother. I spent the entire book frustratedly waiting to get to the point where he betrayed her just so I could see if the author gave a reason for Mare trusting to easily. It was written as if the mom knowing what Mare's motivations and emotions were would make her trust a silver blood, but that was too flimsy of an explanation for me to take seriously. The author did not handle the emotional and character development for those two well at all to make the subsequent parts of the book feel tense or the betrayal emotional. Instead when Mare is going "I've been so stupid." after everything goes down I just rolled my eyes.
Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Violence