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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
clovetra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
onyxkat'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
Gideon herself is a really fun main character. I enjoyed learning about the world through her eyes; it was certainly a case where the novel had an unreliable narrator, but it was also a really fun unreliability.
Considering the grimness of a world full of necromancy, I thought the overall vibe of the book was very fun. Gideon's penchant for humor balanced out the horror nicely.
Overall- I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would and immediately wanted to pick up the next one.
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
cryptofauna'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
3.75
super interesting plot and story and it was certainly really innovative but it almost had too much happening. if i read this in print i could have been referring to the glossary and the overview at the beginning but on kindle its kind of difficult and takes up way more time so i was in the dark for like. most of it
i didn't love the ending but i see how it was being set up throughout for the most part (mystery and baddie reveal wise), but generally i am annoyed that
the characters were interesting when i could actually tell who was who, it has a cool magic system and is written in a way that can be a little work to get through but it was also funny and having it from gideon's perspective adds some much needed levity to a lot of these scenarios. i was invested in them as characters and as a couple and i felt like the relationship between harrow and gideon was pretty well set up. i don't love enemies to lovers because it doesn't always make sense to me ("u hated each other why r u doing this") but their interactions felt pretty realistic and not like things were just happening to happen.
it wasn't what i was hoping for or expecting but it was good i think
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder
lifeinsherds's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Tamsyn Muir has SUCH a strong voice as Gideon. She is loyal and flawed and weak and strong. UGH. this may be a book I wish I could read for the first time again.
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
fairyollie'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
2.5
- Pacing: the pacing was weird and difficult. the plot does not start until about 45-50% through the story, and I found it very difficult to keep reading until then.
- Humor: there were a LOT of references to memes and very-2016 humor. I was not a fan of this, because abrupt jokes, comments, and references to memes were so out of place for the setting. it also makes it difficult for a book to age well when using humor and jokes from a specific, short-lived time period.
- Characters: I did not particularly care for or find myself rooting, relating to, and enjoying almost any of the characters! their motives, their rationale, their background, were lost or not fully fleshed-out, and certain choices seemed random. just didn't mesh for me.
- Setting: as said above, the first half of the book was slow, and it was not used for world-building or introducing the characters or lore at all. I think more world-building, to better understand who everyone is, what's going on, purpose, lore, how the mecromatic magic system works, anything - just more of why/what/how, would have really elevated the book more.
- also, this is entirely my bad, as it's literally a book about necromancers, but I don't handle gore very well lol. not a book flaw but a personal skill issue!
I wanted to like this book, and was planning to read this for a very long time, but it just fell short for me. I would recommend this to others, as I know there are many people who would (and do!) enjoy this, but for myself, it was just a difficult, bit juvenile, time. I am happy I finally had the chance to read it, and wish I had enjoyed it more!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
valerian_honeybee'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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Genocide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Cannibalism
balletbookworm'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
5.0
Now, I did have to kick the audiobook up to 1.75x speed because the narrator was So Slow (look, why is she reading that slow? actual humans do not speak that slowly) and Gideon's dialog snaps off the page. If Guy Ritchie movies existed in the Locked Tomb universe, Gideon would absolutely imagine herself in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Necromancers. (I have jokes! Lol)
I'd forgotten so much about this book, most importantly that Gideon and Harrow are so TEENAGERY towards each other, like a Mean Girls/Stepsiblings mashup. (If this series were starting in 2024, someone somewhere would try to make this a YA simply because Gideon and Harrow are actual teenagers and it's NOT A YA AT ALL. Whew.) And that really does make their eventual recognition that maybe they are friends and do need each other to survive that much better.
I've already got my library hold lined up for <i>Harrow</i> and then <i> Nona</i> bc I'd held off on Nona until I got a series re-read done, so this is the time!
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
adbooks20'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Genocide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic