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nikki_flowers's review
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
steffiraquel's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, and Torture
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One of my first issues with this was the world building. It's like a modern world, but it didn't feel like one? Like, I would be vibing with the magical system and the class system, but then random technology would be thrown in, like phones. While yes, a good majority of the novel takes place in an area without electricity (which is a whole other thing), I just felt the world building itself was inconsistent and hard to get a handle on. Which make it difficult for me to get fully immersed in the story itself.
This also makes use of a lot of typical YA fantasy tropes, and doesn't really turn much on its head. Do I read more than the average person? Yes. So, that might partly contribute to it. But I wanted Rhodes to do something different with our expectations, and I just didn't find that she did. This is the first in a series, so there might be hope for future books. But I didn't find that I was invested enough to find out.
Finally, the characters. Josslyn was...fine. Jericho was fine. Most of the characters were just fine. Most of them fell flat to me, and I just wanted a bit more of a spark. Something that took them out of the general fantasy tropes they were fufilling. Something that made them leap off the page. Just something more overall!
Overall, if you don't mind YA fantasy where you don't really have to think a lot, you'd probably enjoy this book. But it was a bit of a miss for me.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, and Grief
maidmarianlib'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
p_gonza2'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol