queques's review against another edition
3.0
Decent as far as low fantasy goes. The pacing was pretty slow, too much time was spent on unnecessary details. I guess some magic is better than none but the magic was not exciting at all. The only reason I even gave it three stars was because I really like that at the end things finally started to come together and it was actually interesting.
annika2304's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
natkimbrough's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence and Addiction
whatthefawkes's review against another edition
3.0
I still don't know how I feel about this book... I enjoyed it but at times I didn't. I guess it didn't help that the most interesting character "disappeared" for 80% of it, and I could have lived without Alex Stern being the main character. Could we have asked for a more lifeless and bland protagonist? Because she is it.
If Leigh Bardugo wants to write a book entirely from Darlington's POV I would snap that shit up in a heartbeat. He carried this entire book for me and he was BARELY IN IT! My only hope is that the cliffhanger pans out and actually makes this series worth my time.
If Leigh Bardugo wants to write a book entirely from Darlington's POV I would snap that shit up in a heartbeat. He carried this entire book for me and he was BARELY IN IT! My only hope is that the cliffhanger pans out and actually makes this series worth my time.
jbonello's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
minisbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
icarusimpson's review against another edition
4.0
honestly ? a bit painfully boring sometimes . was originally gonna give it a 3 star but the ending and the Darlington chapters made me make it 4. a bit of a drag in the middle but 10th January hellbent release day i will be there no matter what
muchadoaboutashley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
quigleybeau's review against another edition
3.0
“Alex smiled then, a small thing, a glimpse of the girl lurking inside her, a happy, less haunted girl. That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you’d been before life took away your belief in the possible. It gave back the world all lonely children longed for.”
“She didn’t want to pretend to talk reasonably about something that made no sense.”
“She didn’t want to pretend to talk reasonably about something that made no sense.”
paracosm's review against another edition
5.0
I have mix feeling about Bardugo's writing in general. With her YA books either I love them or hate them. So I had a lot of expectations placed upon her first adult novel. And for the most part I think it delivered.
It's nice to see how much her writing skills have improved over the years. She's a very talented author, her books are like popcorn, it was always easy to come back to them.
I had previously heard that Darlington was the best character in the book, and that's absolutely true. His only purpose in the narrative is to info-dump, but I don't care, his my favorite. I will be reading the next book just to know what happens to him.
All the other characters are fine, I just don't particularly care about any of them. Alex was a well written character, but I have no emotional attachment to her. I kinda wish her past as a drug addict was explored more.
Im a sucker for soft magic systems and magical realism, so of course I like the hole deal with the secret societies.
The plot mostly focuses on a murder mystery that happens inside of Yale. It was mostly fine, but lately I've come to realize that I'm not someone that particularly enjoys those kind of stories.
There was a twist villain at the end. Its one of those cases in which the twist comes completely out of nowhere, with basically no set up, just to surprise the audience that had not chance of seeing it coming. I'm not a fan of when that happens.
The author does this thing that I don't like, which is lying by omission. We get tons of chapters from the perspective of Darlington, around a third of the book is like that.
Regardless of that, it's never brought up the fact that he'd been investigating a murder case for months. It never once crosses his mind, even when he had been put so much dedication into it. You can clearly see the hand of the author because the reason Darlington is not thinking about it is because Bardugo doesn't want to spoil the surprise.
It's nice to see how much her writing skills have improved over the years. She's a very talented author, her books are like popcorn, it was always easy to come back to them.
I had previously heard that Darlington was the best character in the book, and that's absolutely true. His only purpose in the narrative is to info-dump, but I don't care, his my favorite. I will be reading the next book just to know what happens to him.
All the other characters are fine, I just don't particularly care about any of them. Alex was a well written character, but I have no emotional attachment to her. I kinda wish her past as a drug addict was explored more.
Im a sucker for soft magic systems and magical realism, so of course I like the hole deal with the secret societies.
The plot mostly focuses on a murder mystery that happens inside of Yale. It was mostly fine, but lately I've come to realize that I'm not someone that particularly enjoys those kind of stories.
There was a twist villain at the end. Its one of those cases in which the twist comes completely out of nowhere, with basically no set up, just to surprise the audience that had not chance of seeing it coming. I'm not a fan of when that happens.
The author does this thing that I don't like, which is lying by omission. We get tons of chapters from the perspective of Darlington, around a third of the book is like that.
Regardless of that, it's never brought up the fact that he'd been investigating a murder case for months. It never once crosses his mind, even when he had been put so much dedication into it. You can clearly see the hand of the author because the reason Darlington is not thinking about it is because Bardugo doesn't want to spoil the surprise.