Scan barcode
lightoferebus'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
4.0
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
mrshays'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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
wildflowersnwhiskey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Sibling death, sibling murderrobin_reads'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? No
4.75
This was a lovely read. Very enjoyable. The pacing was just right and the characters were lovely. No notes.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia
crufts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
But there's no time to think about that. With Zavrius's four siblings murdered in suspicious circumstances, the people are turning against their new ruler. Can Balen protect the king and do his duty to his country, or will Zavrius's reign be over before it starts?
The audio quality was good and clear, with crisp enunciation from the narrator.
However, he has an odd, sultry tone of voice which subtracts from the clarity of his reading. Very innocent lines like "Balen went stiff" (referring to his posture) land differently in this tone of voice.
When it came to reading out Zavrius's flirty double-intendres, the narrator absolutely nails it and I can't imagine anyone doing it better. The problem is that he has a tinge of this sultry Zavrius voice going all the time.
However, by the end of the book the narrator's tone has become neutral, without the sultry tone. This is much better and allows the dramatic ending of the story to land as intended.
> But [Character] had to disagree with that. "It's not the right decision," he said.
It's obvious that he's disagreeing based on his dialogue line. You don't have to tell us the same thing in the narration.
> [Character] was offended by the rude remark, perhaps because of her relation to the matter. "You're being very impolite," she snapped.
It's obvious from her dialogue that she was offended. There's no need to tell us.
> [Character] said "[dialogue]". It was unclear if he was reacting to [past event A] or [past event B].
Of course it's unclear. You don't have to explain this to us in the narration, we already know this.
Consider climactic battles such as Balen vs Thenlyss, Balen vs Alick or Zavrius vs Theo. If Balen had been told at the start of the story that Thenlyss and Alick were traitors and faced each of them off in a duel, nothing would have been different. Balen would have defeated the two of them all the same, because he beat them simply by being a better fighter. So what does it matter if he wins?
Similarly, before the story begins, Zavrius had already defeated his entire family in battle, Theo included. It's not like he needed to change or grow in order to be strong enough to defeat them again. So what does it matter if he beats Theo at the end? We already knew he could do it.
Just imagine if this happened in real life - say, the simultaneous assassination of Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Royal Anne, and Earl of Wessex Edward. The suspected enemy state would have been instantly banned and embargoed, no matter how much they denied the murders. Leaders across the kingdom would be calling for immediate declarations of war!
I just don't believe that the Rezwyns would be allowed anywhere in Uslef, let alone up close with the new King where they could assassinate him. The same objection applies for all other scenes where the Rezwyns were invited to Dynasty events.
Similarly, I found it odd that in scenes like the coronation ceremony, that nobody was calling the Rezwyns "savages", "bloodthirsty", etc for their supposed slaughtering spree. The attendees' comments were weirdly tolerant of these supposed murders, instead mildly saying things like "Oh, well, you know, they have that weird religion..."
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Xenophobia
Blood, gore, violence, murder, body horror: There is a fight scene which graphically describes a baddie burning to death from the inside. Another baddie dies due to his organs no longer being inside his body.Animal death: A horse is killed in battle, rather messily.
Sexual content: Lewd remarks and anatomical words are used in conversation between the protagonists. There are also two explicit sex scenes.
Xenophobia: The foreign Rezwyn Empire is treated with suspicion.
Funnily enough, there isn't really any homophobia. Several people denigrate Zavrius as a "flamboyant dandy", but nobody really cares that he's into guys. Similarly, when fellow paladin Alick teases Balen for his crush on Zavrius, the gender of his crush is irrelevant.
mallorypen'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? It's complicated
2.75
For example:
Lance and Mallet - fantastic characters. I did find their arc a little dissatisfying, given that there was an opportunity for a training montage that ultimately didn’t even come up again.
The ambassador - this could have been touched on more vibrantly in the second half of the story,
Alec and Lester - I was never convinced about Bailen’s love for either of these characters. I think I was meant to see Alec as a brother who was jealous of Bailen’s promotion but ultimately On His Side, but
In a word: underwhelming.
Moderate: Murder and War
r0secaptain'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
4.5
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and War
20sidedbi'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Classism
thecatconstellation'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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
flavoredfaeman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and War