kalmia31's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical trauma, Vomit, and Body horror
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Child death, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cannibalism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
islanderscaper's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Death, Murder, Gore, Body horror, and Blood
katbsc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Negatives:The exposition of this book is so dense and yet not dense enough. It's a complicated, unfamiliar world being built, and building it in your mind is quite the task. The language of the book has an air of trying a little too hard to sound profound, which can be off-putting. There is a HUGE cast of characters in this book, and each character is referred to in a rotation of 4 different ways: their first name, their last name, their house/role, and their physical description. This can be VERY confusing to try to keep straight (at least to me in my ADHD brain)
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, Child death, Death, and Ableism
Moderate: War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Xenophobia, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Blood, and Terminal illness
trickphoenix's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, Blood, Confinement, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: War, Grief, and Cancer
tarynlannister's review
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, War, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse
jmcordero's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Terminal illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Bullying
Minor: Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Self harm, and Grief
greymalkin's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The action was great though, so once things got rolling and it was clear where the mystery was headed toward, the book got a lot more enjoyable for me.
Interesting world building, but some of the in-book knowledge felt inconsistent. It was a little frustrating that what characters could do or know or even their speaking styles, depended on what was convenient for the scene.
Spoiler
I was a little disappointed that it turned into a "10 Little Indians" story, not because it's a bad structure but because then I knew that most of the characters would end up dead by the end and I really liked some of them. I'm also sad that the more interesting ones (to me) went first. Oh well.I did really like Harrow's arc.
The typos (in the kindle version) were a little jarring (such as spots where they referred to necromancer when they clearly meant cavalier or the other way around).
But overall I liked the book. Definitely a case of a strong ending rescuing a confused start.
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child death, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts