calicat42'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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
lotoblanco'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: Abandonment, Animal death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Gaslighting
Minor: War
filipa_maia'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
I really enjoyed this book. It was a slow start for me but, when the story really started to gain traction I got completely addicted. Great world building, amazing scenarios, character with such a rich and interesting background - these are the things we can enjoy when reading this book. I love Shiori strength, the way that she overcame everything that was thrown in her way. Even when everything was hopeless.
I can't wait for the next book!
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Confinement, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
the_books_music_life'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: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, and Bullying
Minor: Animal death and Body horror
saintyeehaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture
chrisljm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Vomit, War, Murder, Grief, Ableism, Self harm, Body horror, and Body shaming
Minor: Sexual harassment
thenareads'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
3.0
Spoiler
(like when one of her brothers got mad at shiori, it felt very realistic because my mind had gone to that too before she even found them, but i was so disappointed that he got over it in one night. especially since it was implied that she was the least close with this brother. i know the author wanted to emphasise family with this book, but i would’ve liked it more if he stayed angry at her for a longer time before eventually forgiving her. i feel like that would’ve been more realistic, but it felt rushed and forced especially when he began to train her.)Graphic: Death of parent and Child abuse
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, and Grief
erinaskelley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Spoiler
I hope she isn't really separated from her beloved for yearsGraphic: Death of parent, Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Animal death
rensreading'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
it took me a hot sec to figure out which area of asia this story was drawing inspiration from though. i think i may have just been confused by the studio ghibli comments but idk. the elements of chinese folklore became more clear only once someone pointed them out to me so im probably just slow. the red string of fate was a dead giveaway for sure though.
the plot was okay. it took a little too long to start in my opinion and certain details were brought up in the very end to try and link them as an explanation for why the beginning was so long but it still felt clunky. it seemed like lim had a plan™️ for her ending but didn’t execute it smoothly enough to make sense. there was just a lot of rushing at the end, which i get because its the end but the change of pace was weird and kind of unnecessary too. slow and steady wins the race after all.
i didn’t really care for our mc or how she seemed to enrapture two boys. the romance was just meh to me. it felt like it was missing something but i honestly couldn’t tell you what it was. probably just plain old chemistry. either way, i thought there would be more emphasis on her brothers since they’re the whole reason she’s trying to break the curse anyway but, sadly, we get to learn very little about them. instead we get a good chunk of the book about someone else’s sibling instead :)) how fun :)))
all in all, this was an okay read. there definitely were some overdone cliches and hiccups in the plot but it wasn’t enough to make me dislike this book either.
Spoiler
i didn’t care for the random power-ups or how quickly the stepmother was forgiven though.because of all of the above, i give this 4 stars
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Confinement, Cursing, Medical trauma, Violence, Animal death, Death, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: War
lmaloney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
.
It was so fun! I really enjoyed the pace and the twist at every turn !
Liked: magic, cultural landscape, the map, hidden indentity trope, stacrossed lovers, humour, revelations!
Disliked: pace, why was Shiori seemingly competing with every girl she met besides her sister in law and a paperbird, very boy centric, very cishet…
4 stars xxxx
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Gore
Minor: Slavery, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Trafficking