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akirma's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The premise is so promising, but the writing style made reading this like pulling teeth. The characters seem flat, there's no discernible rationale behind their actions. The author throws the world at your feet and just expects you to go along with it. I kept thinking "this scene would be great if it were written by someone competent". It's a pity, seeing as the plot twists at the end of the book make me want to know what happens next but I just can't take 400 more pages of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
pagesbycaroline's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Second read of this book. It's been long enough since I read it the first time that most everything was a surprise, which was delightful. There are many twists that I did not remember, so it was almost like reading it for the first time. I very much enjoy the dark nature of this story and cannot wait to continue reading the series. I remember in the beginning, Katharine was my favorite, but now I am leaning more towards Arsinoe.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood
bohemianhermit04's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Blood
sskalon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
cc0906's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a bit of trouble with this book, and I think I might have had trouble finishing it if I hadn't been listening to it. I like the concept, but had some trouble with the pacing and inconsistent order and switching of POVs. I don't think it necesarily detracted from the book on its own, but I think that personally it led to some difficulties.
I liked the concept and the characters. The plot progression was good, if a bit slow at times, but I kept loosing track of how close or far they were from different milestones they'd need to reach.
However, I think the last handful of chapters really brought this up a notch for me. I was sincerely excited to read the next book to see what happens, despite not really enjoying this book as much as some of my recent reads.
I liked the concept and the characters. The plot progression was good, if a bit slow at times, but I kept loosing track of how close or far they were from different milestones they'd need to reach.
However, I think the last handful of chapters really brought this up a notch for me. I was sincerely excited to read the next book to see what happens, despite not really enjoying this book as much as some of my recent reads.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
This book doesn't spare any details. This won't be for you if you don't like wounds to be graphically described. Additionally, the self harm/torture and physical abuse all relates to the intentional and repeat poisoning of one character to develop their resistance. This is however out of a desire to live, not a desire to die.bookish_bookerz'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Reviewing this book would be comparable as reviewing a childhood snack that you do not eat anymore. I have been wanting to read this book around the time it first came out; however, I was not able to actually read it until now. Reading this gave me a sense of accomplishment but was not well liked either. The reason why this book got a 2.75 stars because I did enjoy it as a whole but not as much as I would have back in the past. Although this book suit my taste in reading (I am devoted YA fantasy reader) it also left an dull impression on me at the same time. The plot of the book sparked my interest and its elements of sisters competing against each other and fighting until the last one stands is what held my long inquired interest in the book. But once into it, I soon started to divert my attention elsewhere. I felt that this book is a nice introduction book into the series as it gives glimpses, explanations, and world building into the plot, but the action itself did not happen until near the end of the book. Because of this, I felt kind of disappointed because I thought some of the action would be near the middle. Furthermore, I kind of disliked the direction of the book was going as it brings in a side character that ends up being the main force later in the series (but this book kind of establishes their strength in the overall series). There were some parts of the book that was slow but not slow enough to DNF. Despite the things I did not like about it, I did enjoy the premise of the book and the plot. There were some characters that I loved and some I didn’t, and I appreciate that. The writing in the book was a nice with descriptions of the world and the characters without being overly detailed. The pacing of the book can be quite slow at times but it does pick up to a medium speed once established. Lastly, I liked how this book had some twist or outcomes I was not expecting. I throughly enjoyed those as it was a driving factor for its continued reading. Overall, this is a great book that I am glad I got a chance to read but it is not a series I would continue right away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Animal death
marenm's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
2.75
the way i wanted to dnf this but the only reason i kept going was because the concept is actually really cool. i thought the excessive amount of characters caused problems for getting attached to people. i didn’t read this as an audiobook, but i was completely lost who was who. however, the way we don’t even get to see who wins at the end and it’s a bait to get the next boom angers me. like it’s not good enough for that thanks but no
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Blood
cattheteawitchfairy's review against another edition
This just wasn’t the book for me. I bought it years ago as a teenager and haven’t read it. The blurb is misleading in my opinion of what the text is, and there is very brutal treatment of characters done ‘out of love’ which just does not agree with me.
This fantasy is an interesting premise but the cruelty it shows in comparison to the YA style of writing, just didn’t agree with me.
This fantasy is an interesting premise but the cruelty it shows in comparison to the YA style of writing, just didn’t agree with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
miandrade's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood