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mothmania's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War
goldenlake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Slavery, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Pregnancy
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Suicide
booksthatburn'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
3.5
It shows Beka’s partnership with Tunstall, something set up at the end of Terrier. There’s a new storyline related to the kidnapped child they’re tracking. This answers the reason why Tortall has slavery in Beka’s time but not by the time Alanna is born in the Song of the Lioness quartet. Several things are introduced and resolved, including but not limited to the kidnapping and the conspiracy at the center of it.
Most of the book covers the long and difficult (but mostly long) journey on the trail of the prince and the minutiae of the hunt. Along the way Beka gets to know Farmer, the mage in their group. Tunstall’s Lady Sabine is there to be a sword and to ease their way among the nobles in their path. Beka and Tunstall are their with Beka’s scent hoond, Achoo, making the hunt possible. I like most of the individual scenes, but together they just take a very long time on the trail of the prince. I also find the plot about Beka’s recently deceased fiancé to be pointless and frustrating. Because the story so immediately leaves Corus, most of the people who knew about the relationship are left behind right away, and any reference to how much better Farmer is to be around than the fiancé just feels odd because we didn’t see the toxic and slowly breaking relationship that just ended. It’s fine for Beka to have had a life in the three years between books, but this weird halfway where the fiancé isn’t around in TERRIER or BLOODHOUND and dead at the start of Mastiff makes it feel unmoored and pointless. I do love Farmer, he’s a great addition to the series and I just wish he’d appeared earlier.
This book might mostly make sense if someone started here and hadn’t read any of the other books, but it would definitely dampen the impact of several developments. Beka’s still the narrator (except for the epilogue), as this is her journal. MASTIFF has a pretty devastating betrayal which makes it difficult to discuss the story without spoilers. I hated this event when I first read the book, but upon re-reading the trilogy I can see the elements leading to it much further off and it makes more sense to me now. It still feels like the casual destruction of a good character, but in an actually understandable manner. This concludes Beka’s writings of her story, the journal format means she can say specifically that she doesn’t intend to keep a journal anymore after these events.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
rini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide, Excrement, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Misgendering