nicnevin'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sid and Nirrim are a cute couple but I don't know how it ends. I guess leaving the book on such an abrupt ending ticked me off because it felt like a lot of build up for not much pay off bit I suppose that's why is more than one book.
Spoiler
the magic blood reveal was pretty obvious so it annoyed me it took everyone so long to figure it out. Also shouldnt diluted blood be a yellowy orange colour? Maybe magic blood hits different idkDon't get me wrong, the book is okay but just didn't gel with me.
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
alsoapples'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Classism and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
claudiamacpherson'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
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Classism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Violence
cagneynicole18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
10/10 read and I can't wait to start the next one ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Graphic: Gaslighting
bonnienoire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, Classism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
orchidd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
imaginingly'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
this was really good but— actually that’s all, it was a really good book and i enjoyed it from the very beginning! the ended definitely left me wanting more but it didnt have the “wow” factor to make it a 5 star
Moderate: Gaslighting and Classism
Minor: Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Death
jurizprudence'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
the ending, though. i'm not quite sure what i feel about it.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, and Homophobia
k_aro'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? It's complicated
4.25
Spoiler
That said, I did not expect the ending! It's not like, a cheap plot twist, but it's such a painful refusal of closure that it hurts me just thinking about it. I didn't cry over the ending, but sheesh, I'm really looking forward to reading the next book. I also think it's a super well-written villain ending—I've read some books *coughs* The Young Elites *coughs* that REALLY muck up the villain ending and essentially spoil the experience of having read the book at all.I do have some things I don't love about this book: for one, that Nirrim is so blind to Raven's consistent emotional/domestic abuse, despite her ability to spot it in other people (i.e. Aden). Like, I get that Nirrim and Raven's relationship is different to that of her and Aden's, but it just feels kind of weird that up until the proper reveal of who Raven is, Nirrim's insistent on thinking of her as the same one-dimensional mother figure who sometimes makes mistakes and hurts her. I'm not saying Nirrim has to be on board to condemn Raven the first time she does something bad, but it's just... weird, I guess.
I also think that the first like... fourth? Of the book is a little slow. It's got a lot to set up, so I'm not, like, mad that it's slow, but it does make it a bit hard to get into.
Spoiler
Also, there's certainly NO commentary going on about how the Half Kith's body parts are literally being used for the pleasure of the High Kith. Nope. No commentary at all. Not even about how Raven extorts families to get them families to move up in the world. Nada. Zip. Nothing. (This is sarcasm—sometimes, fantasy caste systems can be a bit... overstated, which to a certain degree could be true here, it also I think treats it with a bit more real parallels that it feels more verisimilitudinous to me.)Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Abandonment, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Drug use
Minor: Misogyny, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
A note on the moderate content warning for rape:Spoiler
The only reason I hesitate to put it under graphic is because, under all stops, the line between whether or not Aden rapes Nirrim is... concerningly thin, but still technically there. It's highly coercive and under most circumstances, would probably be considered rape—and this is not to downplay the real sexual trauma for whom coercive sex was the source of it—but Nirrim (until a certain moment) is technically never threatened verbally/coerced verbally. Is it highly coercive and at the very least dubious consent? Yes. But is it rape? I really can't tell, and given the purpose of trigger warnings as warnings that might *trigger* someone, I'm not 100% sure what to categorize it as.paperbackprincess19'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? It's complicated
3.75
The characters were interesting but the world building was what kept me turning the pages.
However, mid way I lost the attention towards this book, which is funny as that's when their travel begun and the adventure begins.
I still finished it, but I did lose momentum and nearly DNF. However I think I'll still give book 2 a go as I enjoyed the world and the writing.
Graphic: Abandonment, Biphobia, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, and Toxic friendship