dandelionsteph's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
There's some ending fatigue from an overly-long climax and denouement, and the realization of different ways of realizing a "Great Death" feel a little too sudden and Deus Ex Machina-like. I do like the inclusion of other, non-villainous "born rakshasha" characters and the discussion of them not necessarily being evil, and I like how they teamed up with humans to repel Savage's forces. I also like how Rani and Parvati contrasted with each other in how they dealt with their identities. It would be interesting to compare this book's depictions of rakshasha with the Aru Shah and Kiranmala series.
It is a bit odd that Rani (an alternate-universe version of Parvati) was noted to be cold-blooded, and therefore slow in the cold mountains, but just before the big battle in the slum city, the narrative points out Parvati is warm when hugged. I'm just going to assume Parvati was basking in the sun the whole day to warm up, as snakes do, and it was a relatively hot day, or she kept active and therefore raised her body temperature somewhat.
It is a bit odd that Rani (an alternate-universe version of Parvati) was noted to be cold-blooded, and therefore slow in the cold mountains, but just before the big battle in the slum city, the narrative points out Parvati is warm when hugged. I'm just going to assume Parvati was basking in the sun the whole day to warm up, as snakes do, and it was a relatively hot day, or she kept active and therefore raised her body temperature somewhat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism
This book, while classified as middle grade, is not for the faint of heart. It gets really, really dark, with multiple instances of intense gore. The antagonist, Lord Savage, does some deeply twisted things to achieve his goals. The prejudice rakshasha face might be loosely related to racism, although there are such substantial differences that I'd put a content warning for "Prejudice" or "Fantasy-Prejudice" instead if I could. With this being a middle-grade novel, there is no sexual content (unless Parvati rolling her eyes at Ash's "hormones" around his lovestruck behavior counts), but otherwise this is chock-full of death-and-violence-related content.penguininabluebox's review
4.0
One of the most satisfying endings to a series I've ever read. This series has been consistently good, and if you're a fan of Rick Riordan, I would definitely suggest you check this out! It's similar in style, but with Hindu mythology, which doesn't really come up too much in books like this and I found it super interesting!
More...