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sholcomb54's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.75
pdalsky's review against another edition
4.0
Great! I loved Alex and really almost every character. This book makes me want to visit New Haven and see all these locations.
jacquirm13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
gunnar96's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
baldoop's review against another edition
2.0
I don't think I could have cared less about who the BBEG ended up being
dogmomirene's review against another edition
5.0
Dark adult fantasy was what I wanted, and Leigh Bardugo obliged.
I knew almost nothing about the plot when I requested this book from my library, and I think that ignorance worked in my reading favor. The consistent timeline shifts between Winter and Last Fall kept me engaged with the characters, especially Alex. From the beginning, I got the sense that Alex was a heroine along the lines of Lizbeth Salander, so catching glimpses into her past explained her tenacity while building tension toward several confrontations with other characters.
Certain details and character comments dropped into the story in a way that I knew they were going to be meaningful, but I also recognized I would be hypothesizing about for pages. I like guessing at what authors are up to with their characters, so constantly revising my wonderings is fun for me.
I’m not a fan of horror at all. No horror stories or movies for me! Usually if a story involves ghosts or supernatural elements, I’m gone. While there are numerous horrors in this book, most of the most gruesome acts are perpetrated by humans hurting other humans. The supernatural elements caught my attention, but they didn’t keep me up at night.
Since Bardugo has several YA fantasy books, I considered if I would ever recommend this book to advanced middle grade or YA readers. I commend Bardugo for distinguishing how thoroughly she explores evil within this book and marketing it as adult fantasy, so I would not hand this book to younger readers.
I knew almost nothing about the plot when I requested this book from my library, and I think that ignorance worked in my reading favor. The consistent timeline shifts between Winter and Last Fall kept me engaged with the characters, especially Alex. From the beginning, I got the sense that Alex was a heroine along the lines of Lizbeth Salander, so catching glimpses into her past explained her tenacity while building tension toward several confrontations with other characters.
Certain details and character comments dropped into the story in a way that I knew they were going to be meaningful, but I also recognized I would be hypothesizing about for pages. I like guessing at what authors are up to with their characters, so constantly revising my wonderings is fun for me.
I’m not a fan of horror at all. No horror stories or movies for me! Usually if a story involves ghosts or supernatural elements, I’m gone. While there are numerous horrors in this book, most of the most gruesome acts are perpetrated by humans hurting other humans. The supernatural elements caught my attention, but they didn’t keep me up at night.
Since Bardugo has several YA fantasy books, I considered if I would ever recommend this book to advanced middle grade or YA readers. I commend Bardugo for distinguishing how thoroughly she explores evil within this book and marketing it as adult fantasy, so I would not hand this book to younger readers.
ancientmac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
3.75
courtdob's review against another edition
4.0
The first 100 pages were nearly unreadable. She seemed to be using big words just for the sake of using them (You went to Yale, Leigh, we get it!), and the excess of descriptions made the book drag on. It felt overwritten at many points.
But I'm very grateful for all the reviews saying to stick it out because this was nearly a DNF for me, and I ended up adoring the book as a whole.
This book has all of my trump cards: murder-mystery, academic magic, surprisingly wholesome friendships (Okay wholesome might be a bit of a stretch, but I thought they were pretty great).
Usually the overwriting and dragging beginning would make this at best a 3-star read, but I ended up loving the story so much more than expected that it made up for it. I saw a couple of twists coming, but was surprised at others.
The way she weaved the story was interesting as well. I actually enjoyed the narrative time jumps, which isn't common for me. It helped show Alex's introduction to different magical things that would later be used in the present-day plot. So it softened what could have been a lot of convenient plot points. It also showed her progression as a character. Sure she's still the hardened, sometimes-too-ignorant girl with a tragic backstory, but her sense of responsibility and loyalty is evident.
This long-winded review is all just to say, give it a chance. If the premise sounds interesting to you (and feel okay reading about rape and literal shit-eating) I'd recommend you power through the first 100 pages. It took me more than two hours (I had to put it down several times to get a break) but it really picked up for me after that.
Good luck, and God speed!!
But I'm very grateful for all the reviews saying to stick it out because this was nearly a DNF for me, and I ended up adoring the book as a whole.
This book has all of my trump cards: murder-mystery, academic magic, surprisingly wholesome friendships (Okay wholesome might be a bit of a stretch, but I thought they were pretty great).
Usually the overwriting and dragging beginning would make this at best a 3-star read, but I ended up loving the story so much more than expected that it made up for it. I saw a couple of twists coming, but was surprised at others.
The way she weaved the story was interesting as well. I actually enjoyed the narrative time jumps, which isn't common for me. It helped show Alex's introduction to different magical things that would later be used in the present-day plot. So it softened what could have been a lot of convenient plot points. It also showed her progression as a character. Sure she's still the hardened, sometimes-too-ignorant girl with a tragic backstory, but her sense of responsibility and loyalty is evident.
This long-winded review is all just to say, give it a chance. If the premise sounds interesting to you (and feel okay reading about rape and literal shit-eating) I'd recommend you power through the first 100 pages. It took me more than two hours (I had to put it down several times to get a break) but it really picked up for me after that.
Good luck, and God speed!!
nhnabass's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse
Minor: Self harm
merittgrace's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
This was overall a really good book. it could have been 4.5 for me, but it was super slow at times. There just felt like there was a lot of technical stuff that was unnecessary. However, it had an awesome plot twist and super lovable characters and I loved the world
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use