ashley_reya's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Wow, I ended up really enjoying this book! While Lin and Kel are the main narrators, I was enamored with all of the characters in this story. And honestly, through them and Clare’s writing, I fell in love with Castellane. The ending was such a well-earned moments and so cinematic in how it played out. Really excited to see what the next installment holds!

My only qualm is with the audiobook specifically. There were two narrators, one for Kel and one for Lin, and the character voicing was split by section rather than characters. For example, I wish that Kel was still voiced by the narrator for Kel, or that Ji-an & Merren had one voice. Just made following along slightly confusing. 🤷‍♀️

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anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.5


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stormeno's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • 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

4.5


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thatbreebaum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked this book. The characters were excellent, the world building was quick but sufficient. I’m glad I knew nothing about this book going in because it was delightful!

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enc3336's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is a slow burn compared to The Shadowhunter Chronicles. I love that series and was excited to read this book, I went into this thinking it would be like TSC but I was wrong. 

I knew it wouldn’t be the same as her other books but I thought there would be more action like her other series. This is definitely setting up the characters and is world building. The last section of the book is where it begins to pick up. The ending of the book does leave you on a cliffhanger and the last half of the book has made me excited to see where the story goes. 

Go in with an open mind and just be ready for a slower paced series. 

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tdawgg07's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

3.5


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calathean's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book made me realise how much I enjoy reading about characters who are deeply loyal to a person, even at their own expense. Both Kel and Lin are very loyal main characters - Lin in wanting to save her best friend's life and Kel in living to protect Conor at all cost even dying for him if necessary. Likeable characters, strong friendships, strong worldbuilding within Castellane. The toxicity of the friendship between Conor and Kel due to the power imbalance and Kel literally being Conor's shield despite the friendship itself being genuine and Conor not wanting Kel to die or treating him like a servant at all is delicious. The worldbuilidng was a bit difficult to follow when it comes to the world outside Castellane, I'm still not sure which country is which and what their deal is. And it was also difficult to remember all the nobles and not get Conor's friends mixed up.

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celery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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bethsreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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

Sword Catcher feels different to other high fantasy books I’ve read as its main focus is on the characters and the world’s precarious political situation. While it inevitably does have the shadow of a potential war lingering over the story - something I’m sure we will see more of in the coming books - I really enjoyed the less grandiose elements of the plot and I feel they make it stand apart from others in the genre. At many points, it felt like more of a mystery story than your typical fantasy, which for my tastes, worked really well. 

The main issue I had with this book is that sadly, the first half of it is far too bogged down by world building. I do love how Cassandra Clare can create such vivid and fantasy worlds, and it is really important in a politically focused story to have its history be fully fleshed out, but the level of detail felt unnecessary at times and too dense for the first half of the book. I personally think that the first half of the book needed to be edited down about 80 ish pages as it was quite slow going at first. However, once I hit the 300 page mark, the pace really picked up and I absolutely flew through the rest of book. 

While I did find Lin’s character annoying at times, overall the character’s were interesting, nuanced, and likeable. I really enjoyed my time reading it and I look forward to seeing how the story progresses in future books. 

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susanatherly's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • 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


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