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aliyachaudhry'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
will I be reading the next one? yes
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Slavery
among_the_stacks's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Violence, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
pinkupengu'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
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Cultural appropriation
jeyjeyyy'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
4.0
Also loved the historical and anti colonial aspects of the story, as a French it did really push me to question our history more and perhaps see it in a more nuanced way
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Colonisation
literatehedgehog'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? It's complicated
4.0
The prose can be a little overmuch at times, but the characters, the magic system, the world itself, are all powerfully imaginative and engrossing enough to allow for some excesses of lyrical language.
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Xenophobia
asuna1930'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
Moderate: Racism and Violence
graceicle'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
3.5
This book is often compared to six of crows, and honestly doesn’t have the same vibes. It’s got a lot of the same tropes, and a similar setting, but it didn’t give me the same feeling. While I like and find the characters interesting, the world building clever, the magic system interesting; the story itself was tricky to follow at times and I struggled to keep focus. I listened to the audible version and LOVED the narration, it was so fun to actually have what felt at least to me (Aussie) like legitimate attempts at French accents for the (largely) French characters-so often everything is delivered in a flat American accent regardless of the characters backgrounds, and I’m so used to that that I really noticed the effort out in here to make that not happen and I think it really helped with the immersion, and definitely made it much easier to tell when the characters are speaking rather than narration, which is sometimes hard to determine in audiobook form!
Overall it’s a good and solid book with some really great elements, but it just didn’t grab me by the throat the way I was hoping.
I enjoyed how explicitly autistic Zofia was, and the way the characters -especially Laila - looked out for her needs and preferences, as well as not enforcing neurotypical responses onto her.
Loved the chaotic love triangle vibes-that’s not usually my thing but that might actually be the thing that tips me over into reading the sequel-to see how they explore that.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
bergha1998'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
3.75
Found Family, LGBTQIA+, Romance Subplots
“He wished he didn’t know what he had lost. Maybe then every day wouldn’t feel like this. As if he had once known how to fly, but the skies had shaken him loose and left him with nothing but the memory of wings.”
“Fear grew in places unlit by knowledge.”
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
barda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It had all of the elements of a great read - a unique setting (19th Century alternative history Paris), cool magic system, intricate heists, and a likeable cast of characters. It was very much like Six of Crows, which I adore, in spirit. But in the end it just couldn't come together in a cohesive way.
The author clearly put a lot of thought into the puzzles and heist elements, as well as the world-building; however, much of it was written in a confusing way, such that I couldn't really picture in my head what was happening in a scene. The characters were broadly likeable and very diverse (Hypnos in particular was hilarious), but much of the characterisation was done by telling the audience what they were supposed to be like (such as it being banged over your head repeatedly that Severin and Laila slept together once and had residual feelings) rather than letting the backstories and personalities of their individual characters be revealed gradually through the text.
One element in particular knocked back my rating quite a bit, and that was the ending. Without spoilers, what I thought was the ending was a pretty good cliffhanger, and had huge emotional ramifications for the characters which could be explored in the next book. But then...there's more pages. And any emotional impact of the ending is completely wiped away as the characters deal with them over the space of a single chapter. This all leads up to a second cliffhanger, which in itself was fine and could have easily stood on its own, but it felt like the author had two ideas for how their book should end and just took the worst of both worlds and put them together in the same book.
I can appreciate what the author tried to do with this book, with the richly detailed setting and magic system, and I really liked the inclusion of neurodiversity among the main characters and the critiques of colonialism in the context of the setting. However, it was let down by confusing writing, the lack of "show not tell", and the ending.
Graphic: Child abuse and Blood
Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Torture
takarakei'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
4.25
- 4 POVs, 6 main characters
- Stolen treasures (imperialism)
- late 19th century Paris
- found family
- autism rep (not explicitly stated)
- bit of romance
The male audio narrator was not my fav but it didn't completely ruin it for me. There's a lot of visual puzzles that make more sense if you're reading the physical books (because there are diagrams etc)
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Blood
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Antisemitism