kiwisandtea'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gun violence
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Grief
Minor: Classism, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Kidnapping, Ableism, and Child abuse
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
akane_shio'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: Medical content, Mental illness, Trafficking, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Addiction, Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Ableism
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault
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
josiee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Genocide, Miscarriage, Addiction, Dementia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Torture, Trafficking, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Violence
noodletheriddle's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror and Child death
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Torture, War, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
bashsbooks'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Confinement, War, Murder, Grief, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping
Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Gore, Body horror, and Sexual violence
Minor: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
-Many references to one character's history of forced prostitution when she was a young teengoodbyedarling'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Gore, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Religious bigotry and Excrement
five_rats_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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: Drug use, Blood, Death, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Kidnapping, and Gun violence
Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Self harm, Medical content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking
chris_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Something that impressed me was how deftly it broached some pretty mature themes without getting depressing. Also the complexity of the characters, which is Bardugo's biggest improvement from her previous titles imo.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Body shaming, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Sexual violence, and Child abuse