natyourusual_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Spoiler
Okay so I have one major gripe with this book and it’s the Nina/Matthias romance. He is a former witch hunter and she’s Grisha. The horrendous things we see from him and his ilk throughout the story are absolutely disgusting. He’s essentially former gestapo yet we’re supposed to be rooting for him to get with someone he was going to torture and murder on several occasions. Even after they’re into each other and they see the burnt corpses of her people, he has the audacity to say to her “have you ever considered that you were never meant to exist?” Like, I get that he “grows” and realizes that maybe everything he was taught was propaganda and wrong, but he also pulls the “killing Hitler means you’re as bad as him” argument when he stops Nina from killing his genocidal mentor. I just think a lot of that arc was not good and I hated it. Them being friends and him growing and then helping her stop more of her people being murdered by helping her end (read: kill) the main cause of that violence would have been a better arc. No romance, though, ever. I cannot stand this type of romance. </spoilerGraphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Cursing, and Gun violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Slavery, and Ableism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sginnaw'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: Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Racism, Drug use, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, War, Addiction, and Cursing
Minor: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
sarah_hutchins'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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Torture, Slavery, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, and Cursing
david_slack110507'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? Yes
4.5
One of the main enticements of this book for me was the characters and I'm glad to say that the characters, at least our main group of 6, all were incredibly well-written and developed. I think their connections as a group as well as intergroup connections with one another were so well done. I loved them all - Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias - and I found that I was never once bored when it shifted to either one of their perspectives which I'm really glad this book did as everyone had a unique character background which explained why they were doing what they were doing as well as having unique perspectives on the heist that lay ahead of them.
Speaking of the heist, I found that the heist as the plot was actually really strong, and it helped move the book along at a brisk but nice pace allowing for moments to breathe before the next one arrived. I found the pre-planning and the constant shift in plan when something unaccounted for happened or when something wrong took place was extremely enjoyable and it was really good to see these characters constantly face change during their heist on the Ice Court and adapt the best that they could.
I also really liked seeing the world beyond Ravka and the Grisha's perspective as that was something that, now looking back on it, was missing from the Shadow and Bone books so it was interesting to see what the Fjerdans/Fjerda thinks of Grisha and vice versa as well as seeing the story set in a place of less elegance and extravagance than Ravka with East Stave and the 'Barrel'. It also built upon Grisha magic with the introduction of Jurda Parem, a drug that allows Grisha to do unimaginable things that break the previous limits of their power; I do wish we had gotten to see more of it but I also think that what we saw did demonstrate well enough why it was so dangerous to the world and why it was imperative that this not fall into the wrong hands.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this even if it did take me a lot longer than I wanted to but I found it to be a huge step up from the Shadow and Bone books and the next book is rated even better so I can't even imagine how good of a treat that'll be which I'm hoping to get around to relatively soon as I try and finish up the other books I have on the go. I'm interested in seeing whether or not the next book, Crooked Kingdom, will resolve the cliffhanger off screen (or off the page in this instance, with explanations in the form of exposition spread throughout to explain it) or whether it will start the book and wrap it up relatively quickly to then go onto the actual plot of that book but I guess only time will tell.
Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Kidnapping, Death, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, and Rape
Minor: Classism, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Alcohol
abbyycadabbyy's review against another edition
5.0
At the beginning I was having a hard time with all the different characters, but after about 20% I had it down. I did think that the beginning was a little slow, but it was the buildup we needed for such a good book. Sometimes books are just slow, but this book was slow at the beginning because it had to buildup. Once I got into the book like right after the 20% mark, I finished it all in one day. I couldn't put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next.
Normally in books there is one charcter that I love. If you know me this will come to no surprise whatsoever, but Kaz was my favorite character. The thing with multiple POV's is that normallly I only like 1-2 characters and don't really care about the rest. This book however, I was interested in all the characters POV's and what was happening with then during this huge heist.
I have never read a book like this "in the villans POV" if you will. They aren't villains as much ans they are crimnals but still, I have never really read books in a POV like this. If I have read a book in a POV of a qeastionable character normally in the POV they aren't doing their qeastionalbe thing. If that makes sense, I have read books in like a POV of drug dealers, but they we never dealing drugs while I was reading their POV. So yeah, that was a little different for me but not in a bad way.
I would say when it comes to ships, I have the typical ships that is seems the author is trying to push. Although
Spoiler
I thought the LGBTQ couple was gunna be Nina and Inej. I was a little bummed that it wasn't because they would have made a cute couple and they had some good chemistry.I am so ready to start the second book. I am jumping out of my skin just thinking about what could happen in the second book.
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Body horror, Drug use, Trafficking, Gore, Death, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit
altarieltelemnar'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
Minor: Gun violence and Cursing
mezzoanddolce'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? Yes
5.0
THIS. BOOK.
This book has been hyped by SO many people. Was I skeptical at first? Idrk. But ik now that that hype is 100% deserved. This book is so good and gets you hooked early. It is definitely a good 'investment' of your time.
see what I did there. lol
Graphic: Gore, Child death, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Death, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol and Cursing
kits_den'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Alcohol, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Trafficking
kalelove's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
Minor: Cursing, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
itzme'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
4.75
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Grief, Blood, and Addiction
Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, and Torture