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ldbaker628's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder
snowiceblackfruit77'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
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
undecidedpersonality'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: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and War
strawberrytheauthor'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
5.0
Do check trigger warnings.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content
bookishfads'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
Still, I enjoyed this read and its perfect if you want to get to know a fun group of characters, read some snappy dialogue full of clever clap backs and see more of the Grishaverse.
Read more about it in spoiler section below.
So why 4 stars? I took off .25 because the last part of the book kinda started to get a bit too plot-armory for the characters and the clever plans got less and less clever and the plot twists at some points were simply because information was left out to the reader. Lame.
Another .25 is Wylan. I really liked him and wanted to get to know more of him... shame the author didn't feel the same. Not a single POV from a character who's supposedly member of the titled ensemble... For what? A cheap plot twist? Wylan's reading disability would have been just as effective in the middle as it was at the end of the book.
Half a star is taken away because of Kaz Brekker.
Let's start with this age - 17! And he's this edgy criminal mastermind at 17. Ugh, it YA, I get it, marketing and all that, but making him 20 at least wouldn't have scared the teenagers away, trust me. Age aside, Kaz is so full of edge (some other characters had straight up edgy sentences torn from a local emo's diary, but Kaz takes the cake) it actually disrupted my immersion in the story and made me snort back a frustrated laugh. I can't take seriously this edge lord, who apparently first got arrested at age of 12.
Then his whole skill set is all over the place. Okay, he's the mastermind with neat sleight of hand and lock picking abilities. How come he can take down a dude who strangled a wolf with his bare hands?? With a disabled leg?? Okay, maybe the way he did it was plausible, but that still doesn't justify making Kaz good at everything just because the author wants you to think hes So Kewl! One scene - he hardly climbes up to third floor, another- he's running around and fighting and - you've guessed it - it has no impact on the plot at all.
Kaz's weaknesses would have been so cool to explore: the touch aversion, injured leg, obsession with revenge and control, but they get swept aside to show us another clever triumph of Kazzle Dazzle. I really want to like him, but so far his comebacks, thieving tips and romance with Inej are the only fun part of the character, otherwise he's an edgy killjoy that course-corrects the plot just when it's about to get interesting.
Man just look at that paragraph.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, and Trafficking
Moderate: Ableism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit
vzarlb'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
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Cursing, Torture, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
bookishperseus'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
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
allthehopeyouneed'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
I had the same complaint I’ve seen others have- the age of the characters did not work for me. So many of the characters had intense backstories and pasts with other characters that seems should go back years or decades but oop no that was like 6 months ago because everyone is 16 17 18 years old. I feel the biggest offender is Kaz (I love him tho). I understand he had an extremely traumatic series of events happen to him. But just imagining harden criminal Kaz age 10 becoming a gang leader really took me out of the story.
Looking past the ages of the characters I really enjoyed going on the job with the dregs gang and am invested in what comes next.
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Death of parent, and Abandonment
nxssistr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Leigh Bardugo erzählt eine Geschichte von sechs Außenseitern mit eigenen Motiven, Bedürfnissen, Traumata und Zielen. Jede Figur durchläuft ihre eigene Geschichte, kämpft gegen innere Dämonen und wird mit Schwächen konfrontiert. Dabei verliert das Buch nie an Spannung. Jedes Kapitel beginnt interessant und lässt die Lesenden mit dem Wunsch zurück, umblättern zu wollen.
Das Beziehungsgeflecht ist unheimlich interessant gestaltet, ebenso die Art wie die Charaktere Vertrauen zueinander entwickeln oder auch verlieren.
Obwohl die Kapitel von Er-Sie-Erzählperspektiven getragen werden, hat jede Figur eine eigene Erzählstimme, die zu der jeweiligen Person passt.
Ich liebe außerdem die Art der Repräsentation, die dieses Buch abbildet. Da ist der Roman ein tolles Beispiel dafür, wie gute und organische Repräsentation aussieht.
Die Handlung ist klug konzipiert. Dabei muss ich jedoch sagen, dass ich manchmal die Orientierung verloren habe, wer nun wie involviert ist und welche Aufgabe hat. Alle waren hin und wieder verwirrt, mich eingeschlossen. Am Ende haben mich die dichten Dialoge und fesselnden Szenen aber immer wieder schnell zurückgezogen.
Jetzt, wo wir die Figuren und ihre Fähigkeiten kennen (und lieben), habe ich die Hoffnung, dass Band 2 noch eine Schippe drauflegen kann. Ich bin gespannt, wo es die Figuren hinführt, nachdem sie damit konfrontiert wurden, dass das was sie immer wollten nicht zwangsweise dem entspricht, was sie tatsächlich brauchen. Es gibt neue Ziele, gelernte Lektionen und brenzlige Hindernisse und ich freue mich darauf zu erfahren, wie die Autorin diese in Crooked Kingdom verarbeitet.
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
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: Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism