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riverlasol's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping
Minor: Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
dragongirl271'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
4.25
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and War
shinyfox'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
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and War
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
What I liked:
- Tal and Athlen were likeable and believable enough and had good chemistry. They're not a groundbreaking couple by any means but if you like the dynamic of their relationship -
Human Prince/Merman - you'll enjoy them enough. - (Disclaimer to this point that I am not against sex scenes, I just think that not every story needs one unless it suits the tone and story) I like the fact that Tal and Athlen's relationship was strong enough that them sleeping together happened off page was just another part of their relationship and didn't overpower the whole dynamic; especially considering that this book seems to be intended for a slightly younger audience than myself.
I liked everything surrounding Poppy and I grinned when she got to become the Sea Witch's minion at the end. Good for her. Also good for the bastard princess that ran off with her handmaiden and that other guy - probably the funniest and most endearing part of the book.
What I didn't like:
- The pacing of the book was a bit too fast and I didn't feel like I got the chance to digest anything that happened until I put the book down.
- The conflict between Tal and Athlen felt laboured and repetitive at times with how Athlen withheld key information about himself. There's nothing wrong with the trope itself but nothing particularly interesting was done with it, which feels especially egregious since Tal and Athlen have good chemistry otherwise. I think the novel could have benefitted from being slightly longer to avoid feeling rushed.
- On a related note, the ending chapters felt a bit rushed in my opinion.
In particular: 1) the confrontation with the sea witch felt like it was over before it really began. 2) For all the talk about how everyone feared magic and would be scared of Tal, nothing really came of it other than vague platitudes. I know it's supposed to be an allegory for being queer but it felt kind of redundant when the world was already accepting of Tal and Athlen not being heterosexual. - Some of the side characters felt flat, and the setting felt pretty generic. Again, this is really just a result of the book not being particularly ambitious so it's not as much of a bad point compared to what I've said above. I still would have liked to have seen a little more detail about the magic system and how it affects the world.
Graphic: Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
tea_coffee_sam's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Abandonment
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Classism
pvp_niki'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
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Genocide, Torture, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent and War
carlotta_ho'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent and War
samchase112's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
ankiaisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism