barda'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
3.75
I broadly liked the charactres, with Hassa being a standout in particular. I do wish she had more POV, but she was a delightfully mysterious character and her friendship with Sylah was heartwarming. The autocratic world that the author created was also very interesting, if not the most unique; I found that the twist regarding the map really opened up the world more and makes me eager to learn more in the next book.
In terms of what I didn't like, it's a pet peeve of mine when the author switches POV's multiple times in one chapter with no breaks in between characters, and this book has tons of it. It also had some random characters that had only one or two POV's in the whole book and these seemed unnecessary. The romance(s) also seemed very abrupt and tacked on, and I wonder if the book would actually do better by removing romance entirely (though the book was very good at developing the overall friendship between Anoor and Sylah, if not the romance aspect). I also found the tone at times to be a bit too grimdark for my tastes; I can completely understand why the author wanted to show the horrors of slavery and discrimination, but the inclusion of sometimes graphic descriptions of death and torture made the happier moments between characters seem incongruous.
Overall, it was an interesting book to read and will be reading the next one, but I do hope that the issues with multiple POV's in particular are fixed in the next instalment.
Graphic: Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, Drug abuse, Addiction, Self harm, and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, War, Vomit, Sexual content, and Rape
heidi_grey'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? No
3.75
The characters in this are really deep and well-developed with great arcs throughout the story and a lot of diversity (e.g. musawa neutral gender characters). It just took me quite a while to start caring about our FMCs, especially Sylah. I felt like this book was missing a “save the cat” moment to make her more likeable from the beginning.
Even though the book summary might suggest that the Aktibar is the main focus of the Final Strife, the actual trials are less important to the story than the relationships and plot developments that happen outside of the trials.
Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Slavery, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Death of parent
avisreadsandreads's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Confinement, Gore, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child death, Medical content, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content
rafri'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Murder, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Hate crime
Minor: Kidnapping and Death of parent
tahsintries's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Torture
Moderate: Grief, Slavery, Genocide, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Gore, and Racism
dreyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Addiction, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia
beldaran1224's review
- 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
One thing I loved about this book is that the setting - which is otherwise brutal and filled with oppression, is completely queernormative & gender equal. Additionally, though the world is highly stratified according to a blood-based caste system that is an allegory for racial inequities in our own world, there is no anti-blackness in this book. All of the characters are Black, and you'll find no negative language about features associated with Black-ness at all. It just goes to show that you can engage with real-life oppression without re-traumatizing those suffering from those systems of oppression - I have a lot of respect for el-Arifi for managing this.
The characters are fascinating, and we continue to learn more about them and their pasts, while exploring the ways in which they are changing and responding to the events of the book. You'll find multi-faceted characters here. Both of our main characters have their flaws, but I was invested in them from the beginning. There's a surprising amount of mystery in the book, which I think is handled better than average for an epic fantasy book.
I think el-Arifi manages to juggle the personal stories extremely well with the epic, sweeping political events taking place, and this reinforces the book's core message about inequities - that the personal IS political. The setting is fascinating - we don't get to see much in the first book, which takes place almost exclusively in the city we start in, and I'm excited to (hopefully) see more in the second book.
In short, the moment I finished this book, I decided I couldn't wait for my library to receive the recently published second installment and went out and bought it myself. (And I'll still check it out when my library gets it, because this author deserves the circulation!)
Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child abuse, Addiction, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
moonchild_cos'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: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Ableism, Alcohol, Genocide, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Grief, Vomit, War, Body shaming, Bullying, and Sexual content
bookcaptivated's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, Slavery, Ableism, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content and Stalking