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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
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
szuum's review against another edition
- 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
1.25
Graphic: Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Gore and Sexual content
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
5.0
It has a fantastic, interesting structure. I am always one who loves a bit of a puzzle or weird structure to my novels and this definitely satisfied that urge. Told in two (and a half) POVs, to and from a jailer to their prisoner + footnotes from a third individual, this follows two different timelines as they slowly converge to explain how the jailer and prisoner ended up in their current position. The complexity of this structure is absolutely not for everyone. It is such a slow paced fantasy book, it weaves and wanders and you have to accept that you will not know what’s going on for the vast majority of this book. But I loved that about it!! I loved that each chapter ended on almost a mini cliffhanger. I loved getting to guess at what was happening and racing to read on. I found each POV section equally as interesting so even though the cliffhangers happened, I was still interested in the switching stories. It was just fabulously written.
The characters are brilliant, as book 1 of a 5 part series I’m very excited to see how they develop. I believe the later books are poly? And the main character Kihrin is bisexual. Anyway I have the rest of the series on order, and I am horrific at reading sequels so that is truly a sign of how much I loved this! Please note, this did get very very dark though so note below content warnings.
Content warnings: slavery (inc sexual slavery), death, violence, torture, rape, murder, blood, domestic abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, war, misogyny, incest
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
andromeda_1998'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
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
prynne31's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
wxrldwalker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
caseythereader's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Incest
madamepincers'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Torture