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mirandyli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism
apersonfromflorida'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Torture, and Death of parent
scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Prose: 4 ★
Pace: 3 ★
Concept/Execution: 4 ★/3★
Characters: 3.5 ★
Worldbuilding: 3.5 ★
Ending: 3.5 ★
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
frantically's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Racism and War
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Death of parent
jay_da_bookworm'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
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Blood, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Graphic: Death and Self harm
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really liked Malice when I read it last year, and I wasn’t sure the sequel was going to hold up. To my pleasant surprise, I liked Misrule even more.
It’s been one hundred years since Aurora fell into an enchanted sleep and Alyce burned most of the kingdom of Briar to the ground. All but one of the side characters are dead. Alyce, now going by the name Nimara, rules over the Dark Court, a place of refuge for all the creatures who are welcome neither are the fae courts nor in the human realms.
Misrule is a very different beast from Malice. This is a book about morality, about moral greyness, about collective memory and trauma, about personal and cultural growth, and about the very concepts of good and evil. Everyone in this book does awful things, and no one in it feels fully irredeemable. Needless to say, I was impressed.
There were a lot of plot twists that I didn’t see coming and that were executed very well. The character of Derek in particular was utilized in some very interesting ways. I won’t say more than that because I want readers to be able to go on that journey themselves.
And of course, the sapphic element of this book is fantastic. The romance is much less important here than it was in book one, but I loved the way that Heather Walter explored Alyce/Nimara and Aurora’s relationship. If you’re okay with fictional relationships being angsty and a little fucked up, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
The beginning of the book was slow and very confusing, mostly because nothing was the same from book one, but once the plot got going, I read through to the end in two days.
I do have one major issue with this book, and it’s more of an issue because it seems to be a pattern in Heather Walter’s work: the only important character who is firmly stated to be a dark-skinned person of color dies in service of the nonhuman but white-coded main character’s growth. This happened in Malice as well, and there simply is no excuse for this in 2021/2022.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Gore
Additional content warning for the sort of dubious consent inherent in a sleeping beauty retelling.victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is one of those stories that will stay with me for a very long time, living rent free in my brain and heart. I loved these books with my entire heart and felt every emotion.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Gore and Slavery
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
vaniavela'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
4.75
I found the book overall to be well paced. I enjoyed reading how everything has changed over the years since the end of the previous book. I was surprised in that it had better development than Malice; considering that so much changed in the kingdom, I was worried that it would be a rather political book.
I loved the sapphic representation and the character development. I must admit that it was a little tricky to fully empathize with the main characters for some of the plot, as I didn't entirely like their attitudes. Still they were understandable for all the events that were happening.
I really enjoyed the addition of new characters in the Dark Court, as we were allowed to read how Alyce interacted with all of them. Also, it was a nice element to give personalities to each of them, as they made the story move forward as needed.
I especially liked that the relationship between Alyce and Aurora was not perfect. Different things happened as the story went along and they both held on to who the other was before; understandable and real. There was a slow but I would say satisfying development in their relationship so I was pleased with the ending they had.
Overall, I liked the sequel.
CW: war, manipulation, violence, torture, dead bodies, body horror, self-harm for magic, self-mutilation, blood, gore, grief, death, character death, fantasy racism/prejudice, nonconsensual kiss, trauma
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Grief
Minor: Blood and Death of parent
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Minor: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail