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pinkupengu'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
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Cultural appropriation
graceicle'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
3.5
This book is often compared to six of crows, and honestly doesn’t have the same vibes. It’s got a lot of the same tropes, and a similar setting, but it didn’t give me the same feeling. While I like and find the characters interesting, the world building clever, the magic system interesting; the story itself was tricky to follow at times and I struggled to keep focus. I listened to the audible version and LOVED the narration, it was so fun to actually have what felt at least to me (Aussie) like legitimate attempts at French accents for the (largely) French characters-so often everything is delivered in a flat American accent regardless of the characters backgrounds, and I’m so used to that that I really noticed the effort out in here to make that not happen and I think it really helped with the immersion, and definitely made it much easier to tell when the characters are speaking rather than narration, which is sometimes hard to determine in audiobook form!
Overall it’s a good and solid book with some really great elements, but it just didn’t grab me by the throat the way I was hoping.
I enjoyed how explicitly autistic Zofia was, and the way the characters -especially Laila - looked out for her needs and preferences, as well as not enforcing neurotypical responses onto her.
Loved the chaotic love triangle vibes-that’s not usually my thing but that might actually be the thing that tips me over into reading the sequel-to see how they explore that.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
onamoonbeam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
this is the first all words book i have read on paper in. years?? so like. what a time. i also have a bad habit to skip over words and read too fast so i may have missed a few details. but
i did not really understand what was going on with the puzzles but i love zofia's and enrique's dynamic and also both of them individually. i guess my main gripe here is that
me when the. sequence is fibonaccing!!!!
the italicized bits of severin's previous fathers at the beginnings of chapters were very good
and what a cliffhanger! i feel like we've only seen a bit of this world so far and i want to see more holy shit
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Colonisation
alexisnae'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death
oliverreeds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
scarlettskyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting
shoshin'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
Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Sexism
brookey8888'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? Yes
5.0
Reread
The ending just hurts my feelings.
The representation in this is *chefs kiss*.
Do I understand the world and magic when I’m reading this? Yes. Can I explain any of it? nope.
I honestly just love this for the characters and the relationships. The world is interesting and I love how the author incorporated some lesser know historical events in this(Human zoos tf is that???).
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
alainaev's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia