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pumpkaboola's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
zgreyz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
the first 10-20 pages is so packed with character intros and world building that it was very overwhelming but once i got through that it did get interesting. i like the overall story. i like the main characters sometimes but i have my issues with them too.
a couple of the big twists were predictable to me, predicted about 100 pages prior to but they were still good.
i’m not personally into the “love conquers all” and “everything happens for a reason” mentalities that come up quite a few times either. Regardless of my personal issues with it though, it was still a pretty entertaining book.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Incest, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
livvmarks'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
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
moond4ncer'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
rchulin1'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
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mad_books_'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
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
savage_book_review's review
- 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
3.5
My first reaction was that it was an odd juxtaposition; people with various magical abilities driving cars, using mobile phones and enjoying Saturday night sport, and while the author of course makes it work, I wasn't as easily able to immerse myself in the world; the intrusion of the familiar made it harder to suspend my disbelief. Imagining an avenging angel slobbing out on the couch wearing a baseball cap and football jersey, wings and all, is brilliant, funny and certainly more relatable than a lot of the other males in Maas' writing (even if he does share the usual trait of the ultimate ripped body), but that's precisely the issue. I like my fantasy characters to be precisely that - fantasies.
I enjoyed the characterisations of both the individuals and the different beings very much; there are a lot more shades of grey in here, which definitely makes the reading more interesting. However, there are a LOT of creatures to get to know, and at times I found it hard to keep track of everything. There's not much of an 'on ramp' with this world; you're dropped almost straight into the middle of it and left to fend for yourself, picking things up as you go. And where in her other series there have been some similarities that allow you to grasp basic concepts, again this setting is so different it's a lot harder to establish the ground rules.
Similarly, understanding the structure and hierarchy of the world isn't exactly straightforward. I do like the Roman-inspired feel of the city as a whole, but it took me a while to get to grips with the angelic legions, the Aux and so on. It's just a lot to wrap your head around.
I would say that this story doesn't flow quite as well as her other works either. The story has certainly been well mapped out in the author's head, but the writing somehow just feels a bit clunky - the development of the relationship between Bryce and Hunt, while clearly inevitable, just seems to happen in the blink of an eye, rather than via the slow build which Maas is so good at. And some of the twists aren't so much shocking as head-scratchingly confusing.
I'm thinking this one might be a 'soaker' - it just needs to marinade in my head for a while before I 'get' it in the same was as TOG and ACOTAR. Also wondering if the graphic audio version might help. I do want to see where the series goes and how we end up at the spoilers I've heard about the end of book 2, but I am hoping for better next time around...
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Vomit, and Car accident
mads_reads_books'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: Death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ladydeathnesta'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
I love them equally.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
elledanie'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
5.0
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism