stardust_heidi'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? Yes
3.75
I liked it okay but definitely won't reread it. I'm hoping Ava Reid's other books are better. 😬
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Gore
chrispybacon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The plot is a lot of walking, being horny, being angry, being horny, plans backfiring, suffering deadly injuries but surviving them, more being horny and more walking. Somewhere in there were aspects of accepting yourself, growing into your powers (and loosing them), and conflicts about religions and cultures clashing which suffered greatly under all the rest.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Torture
maresuju'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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
anastasiadreaming's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Lesbophobia
fuitfortuna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I really liked the world building, it was interesting and I could tell that the author was really knowledgeable about the folklore that inspired the world and the magic system was intriguing.
My problems lie everywhere else. While Reid certainly is talented I often found some of the writing repetitive, the author would find a phrase she liked and rinse it multiple times within 5 pages and at times i found it very difficult to power through - i actually put the book down for almost two months when i reached the halfway point because i had no motivation to continue.
And that’s not even to mention how this almost felt like a YA masquerading as an adult? Evike is supposed to be 25 but spends most of the book acting like she’s 16. I have no real basis for this but there were multiple times where the vibes were just incredibly YA.
The pacing was also a large issue for me the first half of the book almost moved too slow and the second half moved way too fast.
Spoiler
The book really started to pick up once they reached the city and then it felt like events were flying by. This was really unfortunate as once we meet Katalin once again and have the big battle (for some reason?) it feels so unearned that I just didn’t really care.I also have some conflicted thoughts on the romance. I’d heard it was more of an enemies-to-lovers type of deal and to not expect it to be the main focus of the story. And while they were certainly enemies at the very start by virtue of their backgrounds, the romance actually felt very insta-love to me,
Spoiler
with little development as to why they’d grown to care for each other. Though I agree that the romance should not be the main thing you focus on, it’s difficult not to when Evike is horny for Gaspar on like every page.Spoiler
The epilogue left me very unfulfilled, while I could understand how Evike longed to belong somewhere and loved Keszi despite her difficult history I do not understand why she would have chosen to go back there when like every single person there was terrible to her at best and actively abusive at worst.Overall I was quite disappointed as I expected to like this a lot more than I actually did, perhaps I just built it up too much in my head. However I did still enjoy most of the book and would read some of the authors other works.
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, Self harm, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Antisemitism, War, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
manchester_macy's review against another edition
Moderate: Antisemitism and Self harm
Minor: Emotional abuse and Racism
adonis_march's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Murder, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: Classism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Bullying, Self harm, Body horror, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Kidnapping
This is a book very much about the horrific history and acts of Christian zealotry that caused both pagan and Jewish communities to be wiped out, and echoes the centuries of fear and grief that the Jewish community has had to endure since.toffishay'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
3.75
Graphic: Sexism, Hate crime, Animal death, War, Physical abuse, Grief, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Self harm, Misogyny, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Murder, Gore, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Body horror, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Child death
saurahsaurus'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
3.75
Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Animal death, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity and War
onthesamepage'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
The most important thing to know is that this book is slow paced. And I don't mean that it dragged, just that we can spend many chapters following our characters as they travel through a forest and are confronted with obstacles on their journey. If that's not the kind of story you enjoy reading, then this book is probably not for you.
The world is based on Hungarian and Jewish history/myths, and a lot of the plot is about toxic nationalism. Gáspár, the titular woodsman and actually the prince, has a younger brother who is convinced that anyone who is "other" needs to be killed for their country to flourish. This includes the tribes who live in the forest and follow a pagan religion, but also the Yehuli, who are confined to a specific part of the city, and frequently persecuted. I don't know enough about Hungarian history to draw any kind of parallels, but I do find this exploration to be fascinating because of the parallels with Palestine and Israel, even though the roles are reversed in that case. I also really appreciated Évike's personal journey to figure out who she is and who she belongs to. As someone who is biracial, it's something I've always struggled with, because I don't quite fit within either culture. Évike's eagerness to learn more about her Yehuli heritage really endeared her to me.
I enjoyed the romance between Évike and Gáspár, but I wouldn't consider them a new favourite couple. The development from enemies to reluctant allies and then to lovers felt natural and unforced, and all of it done without the romance becoming the main focus of the story.
The writing is beautiful. It's descriptive without ever becoming purple, and I found great enjoyment in sinking into the words. I also especially loved the stories Évike tells Gáspár; the dynamic between them during those sections was fantastic to see, but I also just loved the fairytales themselves, which never ended quite the way you'd expect.
All in all a masterful book.
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Physical abuse, and Bullying