ink_and_wings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Slavery, Gore, and Medical trauma
Minor: War and Cannibalism
jjjreads'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
Graphic: Vomit, War, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Excrement, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Torture, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide, Trafficking, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Rape
wysperias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Confinement, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Cannibalism
amandabcook'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
Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, and Slavery
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Injury/injury detail, and War
Minor: Sexual content, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Sexual violence
kell_xavi's review against another edition
2.5
Bennett’s basic world-building is kind of cool, though (and this may also be an element of the kind of book I’ve just described) perhaps not to the well-trained, in-depth fantasy reader. The idea that codes can train objects to act like other objects, essentially as though their reality is different and specific to another thing, is intriguing. The scrivers and fabricators, lexicons and Sancia’s powers are all fascinating. The problem is that a lot of the mythology is really complex, the advanced scrived designs get a bit out of hand, and Bennett ends up juggling a lot of stuff that, despite sometimes lengthy explanations, is often a mix of suspension of disbelief and deus ex machina. Which would be a good joke, considering how much of the story deals with gods, machines, advanced beings, magic cyborgs, and the like, except that the piling up of all these pieces sort of cracks the foundations that the story is built on. I was never sure, when the characters refer to god (as in, “god help me” etc.), which god they speak of, since there’s no religion mentioned and the distant past is legend. They also swear way too much, all said, so that it became a distraction and the characters blended together at times; and this alternate universe looks a lot like steampunk 19th century Italy.
Some of the reveals about the key, about Sancia, are moving, but there’s a way to write trauma without putting that trauma in the reader, and Bennett was not interested in doing so. There’s an abundance of scenes of torture, war, enslavement, of misogyny, of medical trials, of starvation and mutilation, a lot of which I didn’t feel served it’s purpose. It’s a terrible world that’s terrible to live in. Sancia is a scrappy thief with a weird curse, and one of the few people worth rooting for. Mostly, these circumstances made me less likely to read the rest of the trilogy.
Graphic: Torture, Slavery, War, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Excrement, Misogyny, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Body horror, and Colonisation
Minor: Vomit, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
randiriel's review against another edition
I wrote that much partway through reading. I've come to amend.
Spoiler
If you can use anything but rape, DON'T USE RAPE.Graphic: Medical trauma and Mental illness
Moderate: Slavery, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Suicide, Sexism, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, War, Death, Kidnapping, Cursing, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism, Vomit, and Racial slurs
spacecurl'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
4.5
It was a bit gruesome in parts which took me by surprise, but it matches the overall story and atmosphere of the book so it was tolerable to my soft heart haha
All in all I really enjoyed this book and will be reading the other two in the series in the future.
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Vomit, Violence, Slavery, and Body horror
Moderate: Death, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Car accident, and Classism
Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, and War
nicoleme1212'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: Body horror
Moderate: Blood, Slavery, Murder, Injury/injury detail, and Classism
bookgrrl'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
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Murder, and Medical trauma
braiths_book_thoughts'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? Yes
4.5
Except for a chunk in the middle which I found boring, I really really enjoyed this book.
It gave me very first-born vibes in terms of story line and the personality of the MC but as I thoroughly enjoyed the Mistborn trilogy, I enjoyed this one too!
I didn't have a deep connection with the characters, I found I just didn't really care about them that much.
What I absolutely loved though was the world. The Magic system was amazing, I was completely enthralled by it. It felt like something I hadn't read before.
This book has
- A heist
- The start of a sapphic romance (and what I loved about this, is that it was completely natural. It was approached by the author as if it was a hetero romance (and by that I mean, there was no sexual questioning, there was no hint that it was wrong. It was just oh yes. Here is the love interest. Like hetero romances do.) And none of the characters were disgusted by it or it was made to be a secret or shocked that two women wanted to he with each other.
It was SO refreshing to read a story like that. I haven't since Priory of the Orange Tree.
- cyberpunk epic fantasy
- Badass women
- funny moments
- diverse characters (the two main characters are black)
I just overall enjoyed this book and IMMEDIATELY bought the second book.
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Gun violence