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redstorm26's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
This was an incredible read. The backstory and exposition is given at the right pace to match the plot and characters. The shifting of perspectives is well done and doesn't get confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Very quick "sex" scene. No body parts are specifically referenced, nor are any actions. It's more of a vibe than anything. A character doesbetweentheshelves's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Overall, I think I enjoyed this book. It felt quite slow at the beginning, and some of the world building did feel a little choppy to me. But once Arcady and Everen finally meet, the plot picks up and I was more engaged. Their relationship is what holds together the book for me, especially as they start to grow closer towards the end.
As a dragon book, this did feel unique, with all of the dragons essentially being trapped in another world. I would be interested in seeing more of this world in the next book, though!
As a dragon book, this did feel unique, with all of the dragons essentially being trapped in another world. I would be interested in seeing more of this world in the next book, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and War
princessrory's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, and Classism
saskia_slottje's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- 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
This was such an enjoyable read for me. I love stories with intricate worldbuilding with twists and turns and no clear goodies vs baddies.
I already look forward to reading it again for the hidden gems I missed the first time round.
I already look forward to reading it again for the hidden gems I missed the first time round.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
overall rating: 2.5 stars
+plot: [.5] i'm not always a huge fantasy fan no matter how hard i try to like this genre but the plot for this one was surprisingly interesting and intriguing enough for me to engage in. the reveal at the end was planted really well early on and genuinely surprised me.
+prose: [.25] it was good but it wasn't great. something about the moodiness of it felt very ya in not a good way. the differences between povs didn't exist and the only way i could tell apart everen's and arcady's was because of the second person use in everen's part. speaking of, i was glad the second person use actually had a purpose and somewhat of a plot relevance so kudos for that.
+pace: [.25] if the book only had everen's and arcady's povs, the pacing would've been just right. however the addition of sorin's and cassia's povs added nothing interesting to the plot that couldn't have been done with the first two povs, and it pulled you out of the story and slowed down the pacing considerably. i had to skim those povs simply because they were uninteresting and added nothing.
+main characters: [.25] everen and arcady were interesting enough on the surface but maybe it's because of the melodramatics but i was not emotionally invested in them. although i did want to keep reading to find out what happened to them. the inevitable betrayal did not make me feel dread the way it would for characters i cared about. instead i was just looking forward to seeing how they would react with that same kind of glee you feel when you're watching reality tv and the contestants get what they had coming. it was more of unattached entertainment.
+side characters: [0] if i only felt detachedly entertained by the main characters, i felt next to nothing about the rest of the characters. nothing memorable or interesting was happening in this department and everyone just felt like props for the main plot. the only one that piqued my interest was mariel but she was used for the plot and discarded immediately.
+worldbuilding: [.25] decent and solid enough but left me with some questions, especially the way the society dealt with gender. we are constantly told that this society doesn't care about binary gender roles but that's not necessarily ever reflected in anything concrete. there's also a few parts when arcady says that people wouldn't know what to make of their gender fluidity, which just contradicts the setup of people not caring about gender. there are a lot of vague contradictions and the world, other than the magic system, feels more or less generic fantasy.
+tropes: [.25] i did enjoy the trope of close proximity but characters can't touch. it actually was able to create genuine chemistry between everen and arcady. however the enemies to lovers part was not done well at all and was at times unnecessary and even juvenile in a very ya way.
+ending: [.25] i do wish the book would've ended one chapter earlier than it did but i do understand why it didn't.
+entertainment value: [.25] i did enjoy reading most of it even if i wasn't necessarily invested emotionally. it just kind of felt like reading relationship gossip.
+continuing to sequel?: [.25] i personally will not be but the setup for the next book was well done and i can absolutely see why people would.
+plot: [.5] i'm not always a huge fantasy fan no matter how hard i try to like this genre but the plot for this one was surprisingly interesting and intriguing enough for me to engage in. the reveal at the end was planted really well early on and genuinely surprised me.
+prose: [.25] it was good but it wasn't great. something about the moodiness of it felt very ya in not a good way. the differences between povs didn't exist and the only way i could tell apart everen's and arcady's was because of the second person use in everen's part. speaking of, i was glad the second person use actually had a purpose and somewhat of a plot relevance so kudos for that.
+pace: [.25] if the book only had everen's and arcady's povs, the pacing would've been just right. however the addition of sorin's and cassia's povs added nothing interesting to the plot that couldn't have been done with the first two povs, and it pulled you out of the story and slowed down the pacing considerably. i had to skim those povs simply because they were uninteresting and added nothing.
+main characters: [.25] everen and arcady were interesting enough on the surface but maybe it's because of the melodramatics but i was not emotionally invested in them. although i did want to keep reading to find out what happened to them. the inevitable betrayal did not make me feel dread the way it would for characters i cared about. instead i was just looking forward to seeing how they would react with that same kind of glee you feel when you're watching reality tv and the contestants get what they had coming. it was more of unattached entertainment.
+side characters: [0] if i only felt detachedly entertained by the main characters, i felt next to nothing about the rest of the characters. nothing memorable or interesting was happening in this department and everyone just felt like props for the main plot. the only one that piqued my interest was mariel but she was used for the plot and discarded immediately.
+worldbuilding: [.25] decent and solid enough but left me with some questions, especially the way the society dealt with gender. we are constantly told that this society doesn't care about binary gender roles but that's not necessarily ever reflected in anything concrete. there's also a few parts when arcady says that people wouldn't know what to make of their gender fluidity, which just contradicts the setup of people not caring about gender. there are a lot of vague contradictions and the world, other than the magic system, feels more or less generic fantasy.
+tropes: [.25] i did enjoy the trope of close proximity but characters can't touch. it actually was able to create genuine chemistry between everen and arcady. however the enemies to lovers part was not done well at all and was at times unnecessary and even juvenile in a very ya way.
+ending: [.25] i do wish the book would've ended one chapter earlier than it did but i do understand why it didn't.
+entertainment value: [.25] i did enjoy reading most of it even if i wasn't necessarily invested emotionally. it just kind of felt like reading relationship gossip.
+continuing to sequel?: [.25] i personally will not be but the setup for the next book was well done and i can absolutely see why people would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcohol
dreadspawn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kiwij96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A fun and easy read, with relatively short chapters. An interesting concept for sure, writing both first, second and third perspectives, following a dragon chasing a prophecy, a thief trying to protect their family name, and a young acolyte torn between right and wrong. Good discussions on gender identity too. Fun fantasy heist with friendships, trust, betrayal, and morality.
Definitely could have done with more worldbuilding and plot written into the text. The characters were very "woe is me" at times where it wasn't needed. I appreciated how Everen's POV included the humans teaching him how their society worked in terms of how gender identity and pronouns worked. Also, was not a fan of the romance subplot. It would have worked much better if the characters just learned each other's surnames as an act of trust.
Definitely could have done with more worldbuilding and plot written into the text. The characters were very "woe is me" at times where it wasn't needed. I appreciated how Everen's POV included the humans teaching him how their society worked in terms of how gender identity and pronouns worked. Also, was not a fan of the romance subplot. It would have worked much better if the characters just learned each other's surnames as an act of trust.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
hollowpointe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Holy shit
Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust.
All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both.
As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book.
The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling.
Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical content, and Abandonment
*Holy shit* *slight spoilers* Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust. All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book. The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling. Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.abookwormspov's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
cookiecat73's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed this, but I didn't love it. We have two main points of view, and one or two more which come up more rarely. The main two are Arcady and Everen. I liked Arcady a lot, their backstory was pretty dark but I enjoyed their personality and their motivations were cool and intresting, and it means a lot to me to have a main character who is canonically and openely genderqueer. Everen on the other hand was a superior brat. I know that's on purpose and he does improve and I did like him more by the end, but for the most part I didn't like him or enjoy his povs very much. The world building and plot were mostly just fine, I didn't have any major critisisms, gripes, or things I hated, but I didn't love it either. I guess it's just not completely my kinda book, and that's fine, I still liked it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War