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ooms'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: Genocide, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
saracat'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
The roller coaster that readers are taken on in these books is so well worth it in seeing all the pieces fall together. And knowing the characters have given everything and continue to strive for better.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
brynalexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Dementia
astropova's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think the author did a great job with the final battle and tying up all the loose ends afterwards. I think every character really got the endings that were perfectly tailored to them.
This book was so long, but I think one of its biggest strengths is that it has just *incredible* pacing. There was not a single moment where I felt bored or like there was unnecessary fluff, detail, or just word count padding. Every scene was so sharp and had purpose. An exemplar of epic fantasy!
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
laurenkimoto'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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tinybluepixel'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: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
stormwise'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
Dara, the only Daeva retaining his ability to cast magic, struggles not only against Manizheh's efforts to turn him into a weapon but also his own internal conflict about his role and actions during the conquest of Daevabad.
Meanwhile, Ali and Nahri delve deeper into their pasts as they travel from Egypt to Ta Ntry, unravelling secrets about themselves, their heritage and their vast, magical world.
As a reader, finally unlocking the mysteries of the marid was VERY satisfying - the worldbuilding truly is magnificent. The climax of the story hit just right - it really felt like the protagonists had earned their victory and that the antagonists had real motivations and reasons for their actions. Also, diversity win! The gay couples survived!
If you're a fantasy fan who likes chunky books filled with magic, intrigue and truly phenomenal action sequences then please read this trilogy. Big content warnings, however, for explicit descriptions of medical procedures and a lot of fantasy-coded xenophobia and genocide.
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Xenophobia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
Dara's character arc is particularly good, but there's much to love for Nahri and Ali as well. The pacing is excellent, the characters’ motivations are coherent even as events become bloodier, and I’m very satisfied with the ending. It's everything I loved about the first two, but with more catharsis and resolution since it's the final book in the trilogy. The longer page count let the story take how long it needed, with space for things to play out at a wonderful pace.
This wraps up a bunch of stuff left hanging from the previous book. There's a storyline that has most of its major elements here though it wasn't entirely new for this book. This is definitely a distinct phase of the larger story, with enough that's unique to it for it to stand out, but more than enough in common to be a great finale. The big things I can think of that get resolved here are working off of ground laid before, so nothing is wholly new but the way things are developed and complicated makes it feel fresh. As the last book, things are wrapped up very well. The characters get endings that are right for them and I like how things work out for Daevabad as a whole. A few things are left open, but it's the openness of possibility for the characters who made it to the end of the book. The main characters are the same and their narrative voices have stayed consistent, with some changes in how they think about certain events. This wouldn't make sense if someone started here and hadn't read the first books. There's enough story here that if someone persisted after the first few chapters they might have a good time, but a lot of what makes this so good is dependent on knowing what the characters and their city have been through, without that knowledge the resolutions wouldn't be as meaningful. If you're intrigued by book three, please go back to the beginning and read the whole trilogy.
I loved this and I'm sad there isn't more, but there's plenty to linger over.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content and Kidnapping
CW for eye injury (graphic), major character death (graphic).hanarama'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
4.0
• Sympathetic opposing POVs
• Interesting setting and world building
• Pleasant writing style
• Satisfying ending
The Bad:
• Portions or the final showdown felt overly convenient.
• Information kept from reader.
You Might Like this if You Like:
• Epic fantasy
• Unique world building
• Big final battles
As the conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy, I feel mostly positive, but a tad mixed.
Coming off of the excellent second installment, Chakraborty initially allows her readers a well needed chance to breath and absorb everything that happened thus far. This also gives her ample time to set up the different factions as they were left off. This allows the reader to really absorb the growing threats and to see the characters in new settings.
And this book brings a few new settings that really help to flesh out the world. While the previous books took place mostly within Daevabad, this book takes place mostly outside of the city. It was really cool to see parts of the Djinn world that have only been mentioned previously.
However despite the great first and second acts, I felt like the final showdown was a bit lacking. Though the overall conclusion was satisfying, I rolled my eyes a couple of times during the battle. It felt as though it were written as a screenplay rather than a book. Some key information wasn't given to readers beforehand, leading to some silly, Marvel-style reveals. Further, it felt like everything and anything went right for the heroes, erasing a good chunk of the tension I had felt leading up to the conclusion. It felt really out of left field as Chakraborty has previously written very tense and engaging battle sequences.
Non-battle reveals did shock me though, and felt well executed, and satisfying. The mains all got appropriate endings. Overall, a good read.
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting