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jackyy93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, and Sexual harassment
ceciltheceaselesswatcher'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, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
jessrox'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction and Gaslighting
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
meganemarshall'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
This book is very world building heavy and is a bit of a slow start. But I think it's action-packed once the plot gets rolling. Alex gets involved with three different mysteries that have tons of twists and turns. The last hundred pages was shock after shock after shock.
I personally really liked the back-and-forth between timelines. It took a while to get into it, but the chapters set in fall introduced Alex and the reader into this world and the mysteries. The past chapters also helped introduce you to Darlington and get you to care for him. The winter and spring chapters were more action oriented.
There are a lot of trigger warnings in this book. It covers very heavy topics such as class disparages sexual assault, murder, shitty rich people, drug abuse, and so much more.
I 100% recommend this, and I can not wait to pick up Hell Bent.
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Vomit
charlotteaimee14'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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood
j_the_human'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
Obviously this is Leigh Bardugo so I knew it was going to cook but I did not expect exactly HOW MUCH.
Pros:
- dark. Really dark. This is the dark in dark academia I’ve been looking for.
- secret societies! Horrible unethical rituals!! A very traumatized girl not really given a choice but to get in the middle of it!!
- complex, imperfect characters who you root for anyways because goddamn do they just deserve something good for once
- REVENGE
- 0 shying away from hard topics. Bardugo did not come to play (and please do check the trigger warnings)
Cons:
- I think there were a few points that information was repeated almost verbatim and that was a teeny tiny bit annoying, but also most people probably didn’t read this in all of 2 days like I did.
- I’m gonna reiterate that this is dark because if you’re not in the place for it, it could be REALLY bad
Overall:
I’ve not given a dark academia book more than a 3 star before but this gave me all that elitism, all that “the rich get away with it”, the “if you have what they want you can get in but never be one of them” vibe that is quintessential to dark academia, but in a way that engaged with the themes and how otherwise good people could fall foul of them, not just making everyone into cartoonishly evil people, because that’s not how the world works! This was dark and gritty and punch you in the teeth with violence and gore and horror, but kept from despair by genuine human connection and that sometimes, even on the worst days, eating junk food with a friend is enough to keep you hanging on.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury
lex_is_bookish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
hsvensrud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
evelynnreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder