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naomi_k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
gothnailcare's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Without saying too much, this book had a frustrating arc: one where the general gist of what will happen is easily guessed early on (by design, I must assume, especially given the cover art and tagline of the edition I had , but learning the nature of how those events came to be was frustrating and sluggish rather than interesting. I had read the older books more than a decade ago, and did not remember the character Chlorr in any particular detail, yet I knew I was reading the origin story of a villain or something like one from nearly the start. While I am open to reading books that challenge traditional narratives of agency and self-sufficiency, spending the back half of the book waiting for Clariel to do whatever awful and misguided thing she was going to do with the free magic creatures so that Bel could come and save her was an absolute slog. I didn't dislike Clariel's character at all, which only made it more frustrating that towards the end of the book, her internal reasoning seemed to crumble under the weight of narrative necessity: Chekov's gun was provided hideously early, and for hundreds more pages we were forced to watch Clariel stumble around in the dark trying to find it. With that said, the prose is as beautiful and successful as always, and I look forward to re-reading the rest of the series.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood and Gaslighting
jmcampbell57's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
bluejay21's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief
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