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sadhbhprice'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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Torture, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
alyssathinkstoomuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The themes of fear, destiny vs choice, which boy to smooch, etc were all very standard YA fare, but the maturity level of the events did not read like YA. The main characters are 17 and 20, again straddling the line between YA and adult.
I was, overall, disappointed. This book got rave reviews, but I just couldn't lose myself in it. The main characters felt flat, and the interesting side characters (Cook and Helene) don't seem like they'll play much of a part in book 2. The romance is entirely founded on physical attraction, which is apparently enough to make 2 deeply traumatized characters trust each other with their lives.
Also, the names absolutely sent me into orbit. There's standard fantasy fare names like Keris, Mazen, Sana. There's some names that are in our world but aren't super common like Elias or Helene. Then there's Keenan, Marcus, and Zak, which are the most frat boy names I could imagine and completely took me out of the story.
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
katrinarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I put "bad guys" and "good guys" in quotes because it was abundantly clear who is meant to be good and bad, there is no moral grayness here whatsoever. The bad guys are so incredibly bad that they weren't even scary, because I was rolling my eyes at their mustache-twirling, over the top antics. The author heavily relied on shock factor for her character development and world building. Why make a morally gray character when you can just have her beat a 10 year old to death (not a spoiler, it happens in the beginning)? Why make an complex political background when you can just have the entire story take place at a school that raises children to be murderers/torturers/rapists?
All the characters are extremely flat, which made it annoying to be in their heads because they only had 1-2 topics of thought each. And we had the pleasure of having not one but TWO unbelievable love triangles, one for each main character we were stuck with! There was absolutely no grounds for their interest in each other besides some eye contact (with the exception of one side of one love triangle).
I haven't even gotten to the plot yet, but there's not much to say besides it was predictable and boring. Then again, it's hard to have a good plot with no world-building or character development to build on. The main plot was meant to be about Laia spying in the school and Elias going through trials to become emperor, but the trials were all pretty short and unsurprising, and Laia's spying attempts left much to be desired.
I imagine the remaining books will expand on the love triangles and the world will expand too. I went into this book planning on reading the entire series, but for my sanity, I will not be continuing. I gave it 2 instead of 1 stars just because it was readable and that's a somewhat redeemable quality. Also, as annoying as Laia was, it was nice to have a heroine in YA fantasy who was not a bad-ass, fearless assassin from the jump. If I had read this 10 years ago I probably would have eaten it up.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Sexism, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy
meganders22'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Sexual harassment
greys_aaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault
shananigans's review against another edition
I tried to stick it out, but finally with Helen, I decided I couldn't. The story starts out fairly strong with a rotating POV and it's easy to get sucked into at least one of their stories. The pace of the plot for Laia is as slow as molasses, and there was little to no build up as a reader to bond with Laia's desperation to be like and/or save her family. It was a lot of creepy sexualization, which to me, felt a bit out of place for the lore of the world. I'd expected more violence from how wicked cool the Masks are described to be... But instead got creepy rapists and violators of women. On the other side, we're given this hella cool Mask woman, Helen, who is pretty solid up until halfway through the story. Then her strength is torn down by jealousy. Extremely unfortunate. Someone in her position, logically in this verse, would not be as petty as jealousy over a boy. The Commandant is the only one who felt she fit into this sadistic violent world; she's a badass antagonist. It's a real shame because I wanted to finish it, but it felt that at every turn of the story a poor literary device was used to change course.
Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual assault
luckykosmos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
otterforce'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? It's complicated
4.0
The story and characters are both strong though and the very bad guys doing very bad (and sometimes graphic) things never feels gratuitous. It often reinforces the tension and stakes or serves the story. There’s are so many good people to offset the bad. I wouldn’t say the story is hopeful, but it’s also not overly bleak or dark.
I can’t wait to see how this series unfolds in later books.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Abortion
Minor: Suicide
readinabyss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
apple_atcha_reading'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment