samgerv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
I started it as an audio book but I would just stop listening cause it was not able to keep my attention. I had to get the physical copy of the book and basically forced myself to get through it.
I liked the story overall but it was too slow for me, and although a lot of thing happened, at the same time there was so little action or movement to the story
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Rape
xbeka56x's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
sannesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I was so excited about the premise of this book! Unfortunately, i ended skim reading a large portion of this book, especially the last part. It was just too slow and I didn't care anymore. I also didn't know this would be so romance heavy. It doesn't say clearly in the synopsis. However, I do enjoy some romantacies and part 2 was cute, but overall this was not the book for me.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, Sexual content, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Violence
august_ambrosia'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
4.25
collins’ whimsical (but grounded when necessary) style of writing builds suspense and prompts you to ask questions while also not losing a wonderful storytelling vibe… great descriptions and well rounded characters galore! collins writes emotion perfectly, and when the characters feel shocked or frightened, you do too. oh, and joyful.
i’ve seen some comments saying they didn’t like it because it was “depressing” and i just thought that was a little… privileged? juvenile? that’s the point. a well written book makes you think, ask questions, and reflect on your own biases and privilege.
debated with giving this 5 stars and i may still change my mind on a future read, but for now it’s a 5 :) thought it had a slow(ish) start that ended up making sense and i don’t like ambiguous endings a huge amount, but that's a me problem.
(spoilers here)
just as a last note: collins wrote the queer romance so beautifully. i had been silently rooting for emmett and lucian since their introduction and the little moments all meant so much to me. this book will forever have a treasured place in my heart purely because of them.
but yes, overall this book was a treasure and i'm so glad i picked it up :)
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Outing, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Animal death
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Vomit and Violence
sprout_monster's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Animal death
spiderlilies'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
4.5
Part II, however, made me absolutely fall in love with the story although it becomes clear from there that this is not so much a grand story with a plot that will shift the whole binding world, but rather a more focused romance story. And I loved the romance. It had an enemies to lovers feel to it and the banter between Emmett and Lucian was a joy to read. Though be warned that the story gets pretty dark. There are a number of scenes with extremely homophobic reactions from their parents and Lucian's father is an all-around disgusting human.
Part III gets even darker as we get to Lucian's POV and see what kind of person he had the potential of being without the influence of part II. This is where the story picks up the pace and grows even more tense, with murders, arranged marriages, and missing memories all working against our protagonists. I finished this part in one setting, because I had to know how it was going to end. Great read!
Graphic: Animal death and Suicide
Moderate: Murder, Rape, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
Minor: Pedophilia
paper_bound's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape
bunbunbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Homophobia, Violence, Suicide, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Outing
fe_aye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Confinement, Dementia, Homophobia, Outing, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Vomit
enhaforever's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Slavery
Minor: Animal death