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lkristin2018's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
In a land where citizens are dying of fever, there is only one treatment, and there isn’t enough for everyone. Tessa and Wes steal from the rich and distribute it to the poor until things go badly. The world building is excellent, and feels relevant in the world of Covid. The characters are complex and engaging and the political intrigue keeps the reader guessing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, and Physical abuse
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Ableist language for mental illness used multiple times (crazy, mad, insane) suicidal/self-harming thoughts includingjuliapatt2007's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence
annelihghh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
kirstenf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Terminal illness, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit
pauline_ljm_iii's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Just— stunning. This is one of those books that makes us writers ache to write something so good. Sophisticated, compelling, strong on all fronts. Corrick’s arc was just beautiful.
My favourite part about this was the emotions, and how believably they are written. Tessa, the fmc, is an emotional person, and I usually struggle to connect with these character types because they can easily turn melodramatic, but I think Tessa’s were done brilliantly. Worth studying to learn how to do.
The romance was very well-done. Tessa starts off as almost an item with her crush, which prevents instalove quite effectively, and their relational dynamic encounters some interesting obstacles and develops through that conflict in a fascinating way. The end result is very believable. It also wasn’t a super physical/pda/touchy-touchy relationship, which I appreciate. (See the content list at the end of the review for more details.)
The politics and twists were also done super well (I called part of the main one, muahaha). It takes a bit of effort at the beginning to get everyone straight, though, and I found the charts at the beginning helpful. I usually don’t like when I have to supplement my reading so to speak, but with DtN I was already hooked and more than willing to put the time in.
On that note — the narrative voice of the writing talks slower than I’m used to reading. I found I had to slow down my own reading by a little to catch the feel and flow of everything, but again I didn’t mind this because I felt it was intentional and added to the story.
The pacing was brilliant. Threads opened and closed seamlessly, and I wouldn’t say it’s breakneck pacing necessarily, but there was always something compelling me not to put it down. Teach meeeee
As for negatives, I have some nitpicks about prose, and I was a little uncomfortable during a to-be-mentioned “detailed embrace,” but other than that no complaints are coming to mind. I fell hard and fast in love with this book. I would like to see more of Tessa growing as a character in the sequel.
It was immediately and extremely similar to the basic premise and character roles in Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne, and remained so for a good hundred pages. Some might be put off by this, but I loved Midnight Thief and was fully on board. It developed into its own thing soon enough, though, and (shh don’t tell) I may have even liked it better than MT.
My favourite part about this was the emotions, and how believably they are written. Tessa, the fmc, is an emotional person, and I usually struggle to connect with these character types because they can easily turn melodramatic, but I think Tessa’s were done brilliantly. Worth studying to learn how to do.
The romance was very well-done. Tessa starts off as almost an item with her crush, which prevents instalove quite effectively, and their relational dynamic encounters some interesting obstacles and develops through that conflict in a fascinating way. The end result is very believable. It also wasn’t a super physical/pda/touchy-touchy relationship, which I appreciate. (See the content list at the end of the review for more details.)
The politics and twists were also done super well (I called part of the main one, muahaha). It takes a bit of effort at the beginning to get everyone straight, though, and I found the charts at the beginning helpful. I usually don’t like when I have to supplement my reading so to speak, but with DtN I was already hooked and more than willing to put the time in.
On that note — the narrative voice of the writing talks slower than I’m used to reading. I found I had to slow down my own reading by a little to catch the feel and flow of everything, but again I didn’t mind this because I felt it was intentional and added to the story.
The pacing was brilliant. Threads opened and closed seamlessly, and I wouldn’t say it’s breakneck pacing necessarily, but there was always something compelling me not to put it down. Teach meeeee
As for negatives, I have some nitpicks about prose, and I was a little uncomfortable during a to-be-mentioned “detailed embrace,” but other than that no complaints are coming to mind. I fell hard and fast in love with this book. I would like to see more of Tessa growing as a character in the sequel.
It was immediately and extremely similar to the basic premise and character roles in Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne, and remained so for a good hundred pages. Some might be put off by this, but I loved Midnight Thief and was fully on board. It developed into its own thing soon enough, though, and (shh don’t tell) I may have even liked it better than MT.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Rape, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minimalish content (certainly not as far as Brigid could have gone, which I appreciate): -> 1 each of a-, d-, and b-word. A couple h-s maybe but they’re not coming to mind. -> A few kisses. There is one very *detailed* embrace, but it doesn’t progress. The love interest goes shirtless a couple times (for wound treatment reasons, which at least there’s a reason), and Tessa finds it hard not to ogle. -> Tessa at one point leads her coworker and her employer to believe she’s pregnant, but it’s brief and false and is not a plot point by any means. -> In a scuffle, Tessa’s dress is torn to expose some of her front. Her opposer sits on top of her while this happens. Witnesses spin a scandal, but it’s also brief and false. Plenty of bloody fighting, and moderately-graphic descriptions of death. I’m not one to be too affected by this, but it’s worth mentioning.