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katleenfraser03's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
toastyghosty13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the book is definitely different from the movie but a lot of the same parallels like rasputin and the male lead character being somewhat similar, at the very least in name (dimitri vs damien). i really enjoyed having a deeper dive into all of the characters of the book, especially anastasia’s family. the movie doesn’t really show much about her family members besides her grandmother, and i liked that this focused on her immediate family more.
i really enjoyed the magical aspect of it and how it played into the war, and being able to learn more about this system. it was also cool seeing how these powers can range a lot and not just be one ability to another.
one critique i have is from the end with
my main criticism on the romantic front of this is that, when anya traveled back, damien didn’t take super long to immediately trust and lover her like he had before the time traveling; it felt rushed to me and like it needed some more time to rebuild that level of a relationship.
i saw some reviews that were saying things along the lines of anya becoming a power hungry dictator that would stop at nothing the seize the throne. i did not feel this way at all, and if anything felt that she was just doing her due diligence to save her people as well as being justice to countless deaths and torturous conditions. she showed maturity through it and did everything she could to prevent any more losses.
i also LOVED the epilogue, i thought it really tied together a lot of loose ends with various characters and made for a good happy ending. i didn’t feel like anything had been missing from the epilogue.
overall i enjoyed this and thought it was a fun read to expand on a childhood favorite. reading about anya growing up and the other characters was cool and i feel like it bridged a huge gap in the movie i loved so much as a kid. i def recommend this if you like the movie!!
Graphic: Self harm and Violence
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Murder, and War
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Infidelity, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
zombiesheep's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
maregred's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship