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cthulhu_calamari'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood
creatrixisis'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nexon'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
4.25
The world was extremely interesting. It's definitely inclined more towards fantasy than sci-fi, but the elements are still there. In fantasy works, necromancy is too often presented as some kind of dark, unethical magic that only evil people participate in, so it's certainly refreshing to have that not only be a common form of magic in the world, but the main (only?) form.
Gideon was kind of annoying to me. She was okay, I just don't really like when characters are snarky in every single line of dialogue they have. It made her, and at times the book, feel extremely juvenile—especially when she talked to more eloquent characters like Harrow. Most of the other characters were great, though, and even the ones I disliked were still well-written and had distinct voices and personalities. (Minor spoiler? Tagging it just in case, no names mentioned)
The ending wasn't quite unexpected, but it was still shocking. I do admire the author for being able to have an ending that both makes sense and makes my jaw drop, but I can't say I'm happy with it.
In a vacuum, the book is 5 stars. With my issues with Gideon, the humour, and the ending, I knocked it down to 4.25. However, I will absolutely be continuing with the series.
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Suicide and Terminal illness
ceridwen33'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: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
jelliclejules'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Cannibalism
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
vvayl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
aurabora'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
5.0
It doesn't really take off until all the houses have arrived at Canaan House, but then the story morphs into an interesting puzzle box/locked room mystery. I was not expecting an "And Then There Were None" type of intrigue in this fantasy novel, but it was a pleasant surprise! I'm not sure I 100% followed all of the logical jumps the characters made as they figured out the puzzles, but I was able to follow all of the plot points no problem. There's a lot of intrigue and unanswered questions about the world that I'm itching to learn more about, so I will absolutely be continuing on with the series.
Surprisingly, I found the book to be a joyful reading experience, so that's primarily why I'm rating it 5 stars. Horror and necromancers are not normally my thing, and I've read plenty of grimdark novels that, while good, were harder to get through. However, this does not qualify as horror at all, so I was safe there. There were just a few more mentions of skeletal features and viscera than I would normally seek out, but not so many as to put me off. After each listening session, I found myself in a better mood and eager to find more time to continue on!
Gideon's voice was so strong throughout, and I thought that the audiobook narrator did an excellent job in capturing it while differentiating all the other characters' voices. It first caught me off guard that Gideon does use so much "modern" language (like "that's what she said" jokes), but I guess who's to say that language doesn't belong in this world? Once I got over that initial anachronistic feeling, I thoroughly enjoyed the humor.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
confuzzledsheep'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
I recommend this to people who can handle gore, general nastiness, and women with complex motivations and vengeance. If you are a fantasy fan who doesn't know much about sci-fi, don't be afraid- this is far more fantasy than Scifi. If you study any form of biology you may also get a bit more out of this experience, as the fleshy, bloody, and boney details become more interesting and enthralling. I didn't think this would be a 5* reread, but here we are.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Terminal illness
angorarabbit'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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Sexual content
beckahh_reads'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail