natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Genocide
Minor: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury
faeriefox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
3.75
This rating was hard to decide on.
I absolutely loved the first 80% of the book. I thought the prose was lovely and that the premise and characters were very interesting and unique. The plot twists made sense while still being unpredictable, and the story was all in all very well done.
However, later on in the book, it felt like the writing and story was less thought-out and just done in a rush. The plot twists were out of nowhere and completely outlandish, and the story could have been taken in so many different, better directions.
All in all, I'd say the book is definitely worth a read, and I will be reading the second one. It doesn't deserve all of the hate it's getting, but it didn't quite live up to my hopes.
I absolutely loved the first 80% of the book. I thought the prose was lovely and that the premise and characters were very interesting and unique. The plot twists made sense while still being unpredictable, and the story was all in all very well done.
However, later on in the book, it felt like the writing and story was less thought-out and just done in a rush. The plot twists were out of nowhere and completely outlandish, and the story could have been taken in so many different, better directions.
All in all, I'd say the book is definitely worth a read, and I will be reading the second one. It doesn't deserve all of the hate it's getting, but it didn't quite live up to my hopes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gore and Genocide
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
This book has quite the polarized reviews on Goodreads, and really, sparked a lot of controversy on TikTok. So, I figured I'd give it a chance and see what all the talk was about. Let me just say, if you read a lot of YA fantasy, and know a lot of the popular YA fantasy from the early 2000s and 2010s, you will notice quite a few similarities in this one. Like, so many scenes taken almost directly from other books. So many.
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Genocide
gayelfboi's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
1.0
Begging people who think this is good fantasy writing to get better standards lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
_ohheyisabella_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.5
Entertainment-wise the book is good but the descriptions and names of places/objects as well as other things are almost painful. It is almost twilight-esque with the relationship between some characters and the main character gives-off Bella Swan vibes. It took a minute for me to get absorbed into it but it got better a little further towards the end. Overall it was entertaining and I will be purchasing the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Medical content
Spoiler
love-trianglecallmesword's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
2.0
The fantasy aspect had me sold but once I read it, I did not appreciate how the only representation is shoved onto the same character who's more of a background character than a side character and the fact that the love interests are 500+ years older than the MC who's only 20 years old. This book had so much potential, it disappointed me. I was promised a Hunger Games type of book, let me tell you, it's not that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: War
Minor: Death and Genocide
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, and War
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