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aely's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death and Medical content
angel_rod's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent
readwithria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Twelve years ago, some people received Epic powers when Calamity appeared in the sky. Those people are all villains, and it’s up to a group of regular people to take them down.
I love Brandon Sanderson, and decided to branch out from the Cosmere into some of his other works. His pacing and action sequences are amazing, as usual, and the world building is intriguing and unique in so many ways. There are, however, a few things that bothered me about this particular book.
My biggest issue was with some of the slang and place names in the book. This book takes place twelve years after some of humanity received their powers, and all of the characters we meet are over the age of 18. And yet, somehow, curses have completely changed. The three that Sanderson created for this series were
1. sparks (replacement for damn, fuck, and other exclamations)
3. Calamity (seemed like a replacement for things like “Jesus Christ” or “holy shit”)
4. Shlonts (an insult, similar to shithead)
Why on earth would slang change that quickly? It makes no sense, and every time I read one of them it completely took me out of the book.
Similarly, the name of Chicago was changed to Newcago, and I’m sorry but that’s the worst place name I’ve ever heard. This is Brandon Sanderson we’re talking about, and the best thing he could come up with was Newcago?? I’m bamboozled.
Last, but not least, Brandon Sanderson is not a romance writer in any way, and because this series is his take on the novelization of the comic book structure, there obviously needed to be a romance subplot. But oof, it wasn’t good. This might be the worst Sanderson romance I’ve read.
Now that I’ve gotten past that though, here are some of the things I DID enjoy!
- the world building is so good! The Epics, their powers and weaknesses, the tech, how the city was changed by the events of the prologue, it’s all so well done! Sanderson is the king of unique world building
- the secondary characters! I love Abraham and Cody so much, and Tia really grew on me
- A couple of the twists, especially the aftermath of the limo (iykyk)
All in all, this is definitely a series I will continue despite its flaws. 3.5 stars.
I love Brandon Sanderson, and decided to branch out from the Cosmere into some of his other works. His pacing and action sequences are amazing, as usual, and the world building is intriguing and unique in so many ways. There are, however, a few things that bothered me about this particular book.
My biggest issue was with some of the slang and place names in the book. This book takes place twelve years after some of humanity received their powers, and all of the characters we meet are over the age of 18. And yet, somehow, curses have completely changed. The three that Sanderson created for this series were
1. sparks (replacement for damn, fuck, and other exclamations)
3. Calamity (seemed like a replacement for things like “Jesus Christ” or “holy shit”)
4. Shlonts (an insult, similar to shithead)
Why on earth would slang change that quickly? It makes no sense, and every time I read one of them it completely took me out of the book.
Similarly, the name of Chicago was changed to Newcago, and I’m sorry but that’s the worst place name I’ve ever heard. This is Brandon Sanderson we’re talking about, and the best thing he could come up with was Newcago?? I’m bamboozled.
Last, but not least, Brandon Sanderson is not a romance writer in any way, and because this series is his take on the novelization of the comic book structure, there obviously needed to be a romance subplot. But oof, it wasn’t good. This might be the worst Sanderson romance I’ve read.
Now that I’ve gotten past that though, here are some of the things I DID enjoy!
- the world building is so good! The Epics, their powers and weaknesses, the tech, how the city was changed by the events of the prologue, it’s all so well done! Sanderson is the king of unique world building
- the secondary characters! I love Abraham and Cody so much, and Tia really grew on me
- A couple of the twists, especially the aftermath of the limo (iykyk)
All in all, this is definitely a series I will continue despite its flaws. 3.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Blood, Car accident, Colonisation, War, and Classism