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artmuseam'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Genocide, and Classism
daretodream03'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
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, and Vomit
jennaem27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Bullying and Child abuse
bookishmikay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Blood
katiemarie8943's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence
jasperdotpdf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
The worldbuilding was great, and Talin‘s characterisation as well. I love how she handled her grief throughout the book, and how it was a constant factor that she carried with her even to the end of the book. It felt very realistic to see her remember Corian even when she‘d bonded with Red. It was also really interesting to see a mute MC, which I‘m just gonna take as disability rep even though it isn’t a huge hindrance for Talin.
I did have a bone to pick with how this was handled, however.
The pacing was a little fast for me, especially how the developing of relationships between the characters was handled. But this definitely had the usual upsides of faster pacing — namely that this book was a breeze to read through and managed to keep my attention fairly well.
The way Marie Lu handles the setup for the climax was nothing short of captivating and it did make me tear up a little bit.
The end, as well as some small parts of the story were a little predictable, but I‘m not one to dislike any and everything that doesn’t have schock value. Despite the predictability of these moments, the way I grew to care about the characters still made them pay off.
Apart from some small redundancies/repetitions in writing, and my wish for a little slower pacing this book was absolutely amazing.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Ableism and Racism
steffandbooks'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
5.0
The book had me hooked from chapter one and it actually already made me cry. How good is an author with words if characters can already make you cry only after a few pages, when you didn't have long interactions with them and the chance to build up a relationship with them? I say, absolutely amazing. Marie Lu may have become one of my new favourite authors and, naturally, I have to go read her other books now as well.
Although this series is a duology, I immediately wanted to go back to the start and read this book all over again.
I am in love with the characters, with the setting, with the world, with the plot. It's everything. This book also made me want to learn sign language.
How the characters are all part of an elite soldiers group made me think of special forces like SEALs and I do enjoy TV shows about special forces as well, so I was intrigued to see how the "war" setting can be put into words. But Marie did not have any problems with that. I was able to follow every single scene and was able to let it play out in my head.
And what I found even more amazing is that the FMC wasn’t the center of attention, wasn’t the overpowered girl that needed to save the rest of the country. While Talin is a very, very good soldier and also very likeable character with many obstacles to overcome, her other friends and main focus in the books were also equally amazing at something particular and haunted by their own demons. And then we got Red. He is the overpowered character, the hope of everyone to save the world. But we did not get his POV, so everything was told from Talin‘s POV, which is why this whole thing was so refreshing. I know this might change due to how the book ends, but I am sure Marie will be able to find a perfect way to unpack it in the second one.
It also didn't feel like YA to me at all. The character are all 18 years old and older, Red even 22 years old and just the content did not scream YA to me. Although the romance was rather an undercurrent and we focused more on the plot, the interaction between the love interests was described in a more adult way, I would say - but don't get me wrong, there was no explicit content, but it also wasn't fade to black or like "oh my god he touched me, what am I going to do now" kind of thing.
All in all, this book is just amazing and I hope the second one can live up to the first's standards.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Racism
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
niksbrie'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
4.5
Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, and War
Minor: Ableism
mschmitz'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
3.75
It was also very refreshing to finally read a book about warriors where there is no sexism. Like not once. It's not even mentioned passively. Loved that.
It's not a romantic story, and I am not sure if it will go in that direction in the next book, but I kind of have a feeling it won't. So if you are looking for some romance, then this book probably won't satisfy you. I do however recommend it if you are looking for a somewhat unique dystopian fantasy. The world building is clear and done well, and the characters are nicely written. I became quite invested in their feelings, their traumas, their relationships, and their growth. I look forward to reading the second book.
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Ableism, Xenophobia, and Colonisation