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estock36's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
Loved the action scenes when they were present! I wish I liked the characters more. They were definitely multi layered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism
reddeddy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, and Pregnancy
xcelxdx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Been meaning to pick this book up for ages but was slightly apprehensive I would be disappointed due to the (quiet-ish) hype for this book. Wow I am so glad I picked it up. It was surprisingly easy for a fantasy book to enter the world. The characters were exciting (once I figured out how many POVs there were). The plot twist at the end was both predictable and not which is always great. I loved getting to know the characters and watching them learn to trust and love each other over the course of the book. I think every page was justified in furthering the characters or plot of the book and I was not able to put it down once I got to the last 30-50 pages. The multi POVs became a good storytelling took especially here. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next and unravelling more of the secrets/plotting. I was wondering why kissen still had a gods boon from presumably osidisen as I thought she was saved by his promise. What an unexpected and convenient surprise that she’d saved it up. I wonder if Hseth was truly killed by the sea god, Kissen seems to think so but is it so easy to kill wild fire? At least if she comes back it should be a reduced form. Strange how after so much destruction it was not so complicated an end
Seeing each of the four characters’ different perspectives on the complicated relationships between gods and humans; worshippers, non-believers, and god killers was thought provoking. Where would I fall if I lived in this workd, is it so easy to resist temptation of a gods promise. How far would each of us go for it people in this book went horrifically far
Seeing each of the four characters’ different perspectives on the complicated relationships between gods and humans; worshippers, non-believers, and god killers was thought provoking. Where would I fall if I lived in this workd, is it so easy to resist temptation of a gods promise. How far would each of us go for it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Trafficking, and Grief
avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Trafficking
klamsc's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
rhi_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
thewillowwood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
hear me out: this is basically if the Witcher books were actually good. sorry not sorry. this book slayed, looking forward to reading the next instalment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Summary of my review
Nice vocabulary and wording. Fantasy book with made-up words and gods with unique forms. Plot twist and complex and deep character relationships and development. Ups and downs on characters relationships, making them feel more real. Relatable moments, platonic love. Small LGBT+ romance (side characters) and only mild romance throughout the book. No logic leak and medium-paced book. Sometimes slow-paced, too fast romance (making it also seem unnatural) and odd ending.
• • • •
In Depth Discussion/The Review
Likes:
Nice wording. Good vocabulary choice.
Example from the prologue: The rope sliced the delicate flesh between Kissen’s teeth, and blood poured thick and hot across her tongue. She growled and bit down hard, wrenching at her restraint. A shot of pain, a grinding in her gums, then a snap. The rope! The rope was loose, her canine still buried in it, ripped clean from her mouth.
Example 2: The flames changed. They twisted together, spinning up the walls, then plunging to the floor in a pillar of fire, sparks spinning out like snow. Laughter crackled in the smoke, harsh and delighted.
Every character has their own backstory that we get told when it's the right time and a lot of the backstories reveal why certain characters behave like they do and why the whole plot with the Gods is so important in this book.
As this if a fantasy book we also get to know a few made-up words like 'liln' and others. That shows that the author tried to connect the reader more with the world by adding a few extras like this.
Plot twist. Somewhat. It's a bit complex and while you read you might not notice it immediately, but a certain character develops and we see their true form which I think the author tried to make the character look evil even though they weren't. Most twists and complexity is really on the characters themselves than the plot.
Great character development and from a hate relationship to a friend relationship. One often sees the trope 'enemies to lovers' but rarely 'enemies to friends' and if you like that, this book is for you! There is definitely still romance, but mild in my opinion.
Most of the time I actually didn't like Kissen but there were some relatable moments I want to share
1) There was a reason she preferred travelling alone; most people were deeply annoying.
2) ‘Is this the time, you flapping fool?’ (when a character is making a stupid decision there is always another who speaks against it making us readers show that the writer/author did that on purpose and that the character who did the stupid thing had a reason)
Another thing I liked about Kissen was that she liked Inara. She was rude to her sometimes, but it showed that she cared for that little girl. Kissen saw herself in that helpless little girl and wanted to protect her for that reason. That made Kissen a bit more likeable for me.
Example: She had only known the kid half a month, but if anything happened to her, Kissen might happily commit a murder.
I love, LOVE the relationship between Inara and Skedi. It was so wholesome to read the whole time and most of the highlights I added for this book were actually just them together. Now let me explain; They have a strong bond and I am not only talking about an emotional bond but also a physical one. They always need to stay together. And that can be exhausting on the long run, but they managed to get closer and get a real friendship bond and they literally love eachother in a platonic way. Inara is, since she is a small girl, most of the time helpless but Skedi protects her and it's so cute!!
There are ups and downs on characters relationships throughout the book so I myself felt like I was on a rollercoaster when I read this book as not only enemies became friends but also friends became enemies. It was sometimes hard to watch honestly, but it made that book so unique as the author managed to change a relationship in a good reasonable manner and made us readers emotional connected to the characters more.
There were many tiny details that weren't that necessary for the character or world building but that made it more unique. Like how a curse looked like on someone's body or how the Gods looked like, or the way certain characters spoke in difficult situations. Especially the small hidden messages from Skedi that one only could understand if they read between the lines when he said or thought something.
I found no logic leak whatsoever. There was always an explanation for something.
Example: ‘What happened?’ He must not have been listening in the queue, wrapped up in his own problems; he hadn’t heard what the gossipers said.
Skediceth was my favourite character out of a simple reason; He felt the most unique and kind from the rest. Why? First of all his small form and true form are so different from eachother and it blew my brain out when I read it. Secondly, he seemed no matter what happened always the most kind and always gave me the feeling he thinks everything through and just tries to protect everyone. Thirdly, in my opinion his backstory and story throughout the book was the most sad and tragic one. And lastly, I didn't know how he truly felt and desired till the very end. He had the most complex character build and development and if one read between lines one would notice that he was also in a personal fight with himself and even though he was my favourite did some mistakes throughout this book.
Dislikes:
Kissen was rather rude than nice, for a protagonist. Good reasoning behind it, but personally her attitude bothered me when I read the book. (Especially as she was rather unkind to my favourite character and threatened to unalive him).
Example towards Inara: Somehow surprised to be addressed first, and so rudely.
Example Skedi: ‘You’ll what, kill me? That threat is getting a little old.’
Scene example (Inara tried to befriend someone and Kissen intervened): ‘Leave the girl be,’ said Kissen, and bared her teeth in a dangerous smile, then pulled Legs away. ‘And the horse.’
As mentioned above in my like list there is mild romance in this book. Many side characters have a relationship and some are even LGBT+, but that wasn't what bothered me, what actually bothered me was the love relationship with the main characters. I literally read that the girl said she will break his legs if he tried to seduce her just to see a sexual scene on the next page. It just made no sense. Especially with the personality of the girl. She was rather smart so I was surprised that she let it happen, even though she just protested against it.
The romance of the two main characters was so fast, from not liking to almost already having intercourse. I highlighted all the parts where they connected stronger and it wasn't that much (5 to be exact) until they did the 'act'. Perhaps it's 'cause I prefer slowburn but that romance just felt unnatural.
The book was a bit slow at times. Overall it had a medium pace, but sometimes slow.
The ending of the book felt like an open ending that doesn't need a sequel, but perhaps that's just me as I like books with open endings. Except 1 question/issue were all others answered/resolved so I felt satisfied with the ending. But it was a bit of an odd ending.
• • • •
Rating
How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it effects differently.
[ Story 9 / 10 ] > sometimes a bit slow-paced
[ Characters 10 / 10 ]
[ Triggering 2 / 10 ] > intercourse scene
[ Topic/Genre 8 / 10 ] > I reduce it regarding the romance part
[ Writing style 10 / 10 ]
[ Grammatic and spelling 10 / 10 ]
[ Ending 9 / 10 ] > odd ending
Final Rating
4/5
• • • •
Final thoughts/Questions
I wasn't sure if I should read this book as it was just recently added to my TBR list and there are some on that list since months, but I'm glad I read this book as I felt a great connection with Skediceth and the whole story itself was very interesting and special. Definitely reading the 2. book too!
Did you read this book? Let me know what you think of this book and my review!
Started the book: 03. June 2024
Finished the book: 04. June 2024
Wrote the review: 05. June 2024
Nice vocabulary and wording. Fantasy book with made-up words and gods with unique forms. Plot twist and complex and deep character relationships and development. Ups and downs on characters relationships, making them feel more real. Relatable moments, platonic love. Small LGBT+ romance (side characters) and only mild romance throughout the book. No logic leak and medium-paced book. Sometimes slow-paced, too fast romance (making it also seem unnatural) and odd ending.
• • • •
In Depth Discussion/The Review
Likes:
Nice wording. Good vocabulary choice.
Example from the prologue: The rope sliced the delicate flesh between Kissen’s teeth, and blood poured thick and hot across her tongue. She growled and bit down hard, wrenching at her restraint. A shot of pain, a grinding in her gums, then a snap. The rope! The rope was loose, her canine still buried in it, ripped clean from her mouth.
Example 2: The flames changed. They twisted together, spinning up the walls, then plunging to the floor in a pillar of fire, sparks spinning out like snow. Laughter crackled in the smoke, harsh and delighted.
Every character has their own backstory that we get told when it's the right time and a lot of the backstories reveal why certain characters behave like they do and why the whole plot with the Gods is so important in this book.
As this if a fantasy book we also get to know a few made-up words like 'liln' and others. That shows that the author tried to connect the reader more with the world by adding a few extras like this.
Plot twist. Somewhat. It's a bit complex and while you read you might not notice it immediately, but a certain character develops and we see their true form which I think the author tried to make the character look evil even though they weren't. Most twists and complexity is really on the characters themselves than the plot.
Great character development and from a hate relationship to a friend relationship. One often sees the trope 'enemies to lovers' but rarely 'enemies to friends' and if you like that, this book is for you! There is definitely still romance, but mild in my opinion.
Most of the time I actually didn't like Kissen but there were some relatable moments I want to share
1) There was a reason she preferred travelling alone; most people were deeply annoying.
2) ‘Is this the time, you flapping fool?’ (when a character is making a stupid decision there is always another who speaks against it making us readers show that the writer/author did that on purpose and that the character who did the stupid thing had a reason)
Another thing I liked about Kissen was that she liked Inara. She was rude to her sometimes, but it showed that she cared for that little girl. Kissen saw herself in that helpless little girl and wanted to protect her for that reason. That made Kissen a bit more likeable for me.
Example: She had only known the kid half a month, but if anything happened to her, Kissen might happily commit a murder.
I love, LOVE the relationship between Inara and Skedi. It was so wholesome to read the whole time and most of the highlights I added for this book were actually just them together. Now let me explain; They have a strong bond and I am not only talking about an emotional bond but also a physical one. They always need to stay together. And that can be exhausting on the long run, but they managed to get closer and get a real friendship bond and they literally love eachother in a platonic way. Inara is, since she is a small girl, most of the time helpless but Skedi protects her and it's so cute!!
There are ups and downs on characters relationships throughout the book so I myself felt like I was on a rollercoaster when I read this book as not only enemies became friends but also friends became enemies. It was sometimes hard to watch honestly, but it made that book so unique as the author managed to change a relationship in a good reasonable manner and made us readers emotional connected to the characters more.
There were many tiny details that weren't that necessary for the character or world building but that made it more unique. Like how a curse looked like on someone's body or how the Gods looked like, or the way certain characters spoke in difficult situations. Especially the small hidden messages from Skedi that one only could understand if they read between the lines when he said or thought something.
I found no logic leak whatsoever. There was always an explanation for something.
Example: ‘What happened?’ He must not have been listening in the queue, wrapped up in his own problems; he hadn’t heard what the gossipers said.
Skediceth was my favourite character out of a simple reason; He felt the most unique and kind from the rest. Why? First of all his small form and true form are so different from eachother and it blew my brain out when I read it. Secondly, he seemed no matter what happened always the most kind and always gave me the feeling he thinks everything through and just tries to protect everyone. Thirdly, in my opinion his backstory and story throughout the book was the most sad and tragic one. And lastly, I didn't know how he truly felt and desired till the very end. He had the most complex character build and development and if one read between lines one would notice that he was also in a personal fight with himself and even though he was my favourite did some mistakes throughout this book.
Dislikes:
Kissen was rather rude than nice, for a protagonist. Good reasoning behind it, but personally her attitude bothered me when I read the book. (Especially as she was rather unkind to my favourite character and threatened to unalive him).
Example towards Inara: Somehow surprised to be addressed first, and so rudely.
Example Skedi: ‘You’ll what, kill me? That threat is getting a little old.’
Scene example (Inara tried to befriend someone and Kissen intervened): ‘Leave the girl be,’ said Kissen, and bared her teeth in a dangerous smile, then pulled Legs away. ‘And the horse.’
As mentioned above in my like list there is mild romance in this book. Many side characters have a relationship and some are even LGBT+, but that wasn't what bothered me, what actually bothered me was the love relationship with the main characters. I literally read that the girl said she will break his legs if he tried to seduce her just to see a sexual scene on the next page. It just made no sense. Especially with the personality of the girl. She was rather smart so I was surprised that she let it happen, even though she just protested against it.
The romance of the two main characters was so fast, from not liking to almost already having intercourse. I highlighted all the parts where they connected stronger and it wasn't that much (5 to be exact) until they did the 'act'. Perhaps it's 'cause I prefer slowburn but that romance just felt unnatural.
The book was a bit slow at times. Overall it had a medium pace, but sometimes slow.
The ending of the book felt like an open ending that doesn't need a sequel, but perhaps that's just me as I like books with open endings. Except 1 question/issue were all others answered/resolved so I felt satisfied with the ending. But it was a bit of an odd ending.
• • • •
Rating
How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it effects differently.
[ Story 9 / 10 ] > sometimes a bit slow-paced
[ Characters 10 / 10 ]
[ Triggering 2 / 10 ] > intercourse scene
[ Topic/Genre 8 / 10 ] > I reduce it regarding the romance part
[ Writing style 10 / 10 ]
[ Grammatic and spelling 10 / 10 ]
[ Ending 9 / 10 ] > odd ending
Final Rating
4/5
• • • •
Final thoughts/Questions
I wasn't sure if I should read this book as it was just recently added to my TBR list and there are some on that list since months, but I'm glad I read this book as I felt a great connection with Skediceth and the whole story itself was very interesting and special. Definitely reading the 2. book too!
Did you read this book? Let me know what you think of this book and my review!
Started the book: 03. June 2024
Finished the book: 04. June 2024
Wrote the review: 05. June 2024
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and War
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
scrooche's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
as my first foray back into reading fantasy books in over a decade, this was truly wonderful. I bought the sequel before I even finished this book so I had it ready and lined up to start reading right away. The characters are wonderful in the ways they interact with each other and the world, the plot twists were genuinely shocking (from someone who is often pretty good at calling where a plot is headed), the bonds between the characters never feel forced and the world building is fascinating. I cannot recommend this book highly enough tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
charlieswrittenadventures's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I really wanted to love this book. The concept of it is really cool and the main characters by themselves are interesting as well.
However I felt very disappointed while reading this. There were long stretches where nothing really happened and the conversations just felt a bit unnecessary as they did not really reveal much about the main characters.
The sex scene also just felt entirely out of place and unnecessary. Personally I did not get the feeling that those two characters had that kind of chemistry between them.
Technically this would have left it at 2 stars but I'm absolutely deducting one for the overuse of the word 'flesh'. Where is the variety in the descriptions? There could have been 'splintered bones'. There could have been 'broken skin and torn muscles'. There could have been 'a network of silvery scars stretching across her skin like dew-covered cobwebs in a meadow'. But all we got was 'flesh'. :(
However I felt very disappointed while reading this. There were long stretches where nothing really happened and the conversations just felt a bit unnecessary as they did not really reveal much about the main characters.
The sex scene also just felt entirely out of place and unnecessary. Personally I did not get the feeling that those two characters had that kind of chemistry between them.
Technically this would have left it at 2 stars but I'm absolutely deducting one for the overuse of the word 'flesh'. Where is the variety in the descriptions? There could have been 'splintered bones'. There could have been 'broken skin and torn muscles'. There could have been 'a network of silvery scars stretching across her skin like dew-covered cobwebs in a meadow'. But all we got was 'flesh'. :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content