Reviews

This book is awesome, and I'm glad I knew nothing about it going into it. Buehlman knows how to create geuinely scary creatures and scenarios for his characters to face; Thomas's battle with the river/fish demon was an early indicator of this. This is not your average, hokey fantasy story where the protagonist cleverly and cleanly works their way through each encounter. The gang's journey is heavy and brutal, and it feels like they're all one moment away from dying a horrific death.

I expected the writing to highlight the power and autonomy of humanity against the divine and demonic but, interestingly, it did the opposite. Thomas and Matthieu are helplessly tossed from one nightmare situation to the next. Even Delphine is concerning and incomprehensible at times, despite her divine role in the story.

The third quarter of this book is the only reason why I didn't give five stars. I wasn't as interested in Avignon, its politics, Matthieu's brother, etc. as I was in the gang's journey to get there, or in the final quarter of the book. I also wanted to see more development from Matthieu's character before he was killed off, but I think his sad, premature-feeling death was very fitting for the story.

grimby's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kwj's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

starrylev's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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