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achingallover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
gummiefox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
alicia1701's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death
meg_leigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was also just so freaking hard to follow what was happening. I thought it was me but reviews show I'm not alone. I'm curious what happens in the next book, but I don't think I'm curious enough to delve back into this world.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Incest
noshakira'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
5.0
The only difficulty is that some names can be hard to pronounce (as with most fantasy novels) and keep straight, as many are similar or characters go by multiple names for differing reasons, so it's easy to get confused and I'd have to continually remind myself who was who.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
vigil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
also, mild critique / wants for further installments
also shout out to jenn lyons for creating a male protag i actually enjoy. not very many cases!
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Homophobia and Incest
adragoninspace'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
4.25
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Incest, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
anni_swanilda'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
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Incest, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape
flowerpaladin's review against another edition
This book's biggest problems (for me) were 1. the story structure and 2. the gruesome content. The story is told from multiple points-of-view from different time periods, but all about the same character. On top of that, the world-building is extremely confusing. I had to pause and re-read entire pages sometimes, which isn't something I ever really have to do. And so far as I can tell, this POV-shifting is completely unnecessary. I would've enjoyed the story a lot more if it had just stuck with Khirin's POV.
As for the second issue, slavery is a topic that is a personal squick for me, and I usually try to avoid it. It was pretty prominent right at the beginning of this book, but since the book is queer, I tried to persevere, thinking maybe it wouldn't be a major plot point. But it is. It doesn't seem like it ever really moves away from this concept of characters being owned, abused, raped, and murdered by other characters. That is just too dark and too horrific for me to stomach.
It's my hope that we'll start to see more and more queer high fantasy stories that center hope and love instead of wading through dark topics like rape and murder and slavery. I'm not condemning books like that. I just really wish I could find the ones that were more like what I'm looking for... what I really need in my life right now.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Violence