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iam's reviews
1593 reviews
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fun horror book with an inventive design hook.
Read this review and more on the blog
Content warnings include: graphic injury, torture, bodily fluids; Mentions of: homelessness, lack of job security, debt, harmful psychiatric institutions.
A lot of the appeal of this book comes from its design: It looks like a certain furniture store catalogue, and even has little order slips and item design descriptions and illustrations inside, as well as maps and employee entries and more. I particularly enjoyed all the corporate identity stuff and slogans for this fictional store called ORSK. "Any questions, just ORSK!" was genius.
I will say that due to this design resembling a catalogue so much, I found the physical copy a bit hard to read. It was so... floppy, and therefore uncomfortable to hold.
I still finished it in one day though.
The plot takes a while to take off. I will admit that I for quite a while I thought this would be one of those books that get widely labelled horror, just to ultimately be more mystery or thriller with some vague spooky elements.
But ho boy, I was wrong, this is definitely horror! And when the horror parts took off, they did not let up.
Which leads me to believe that the slow beginning was an intentional misleading, a calm before the storm, as well as establishing characters and relationships. It worked for me, though I think some more bits to keep it interesting and feel relevant could have been helpful.
The setting at the furniture store was a lot of fun. I mostly know it from stuff like SCP/Backrooms, but to read it in traditional book format was a lot of fun. I think that generally is my main emotion about the book: fun! It was not particularly innovative, neither with the setting or the plot twists, but I found it immensly enjoyable.
I also really liked the writing style, in that it was super easy to read (I read most of the book in one sitting) and it really made all of what was happening play out like a movie in my head. Which, actually, this book would be GREAT for a movie adaption. Why hasn't that happened yet??
Another fun detail was that IKEA actually exists in this setting - ORSK is just an even cheaper competitor.
Lastly, it added a nice chunk of capitalist and corporate critique, which I always love to see in a horror book. "Corporate horror" suits it quite well.
Read this review and more on the blog
Content warnings include: graphic injury, torture, bodily fluids; Mentions of: homelessness, lack of job security, debt, harmful psychiatric institutions.
A lot of the appeal of this book comes from its design: It looks like a certain furniture store catalogue, and even has little order slips and item design descriptions and illustrations inside, as well as maps and employee entries and more. I particularly enjoyed all the corporate identity stuff and slogans for this fictional store called ORSK. "Any questions, just ORSK!" was genius.
I will say that due to this design resembling a catalogue so much, I found the physical copy a bit hard to read. It was so... floppy, and therefore uncomfortable to hold.
I still finished it in one day though.
The plot takes a while to take off. I will admit that I for quite a while I thought this would be one of those books that get widely labelled horror, just to ultimately be more mystery or thriller with some vague spooky elements.
But ho boy, I was wrong, this is definitely horror! And when the horror parts took off, they did not let up.
Which leads me to believe that the slow beginning was an intentional misleading, a calm before the storm, as well as establishing characters and relationships. It worked for me, though I think some more bits to keep it interesting and feel relevant could have been helpful.
The setting at the furniture store was a lot of fun. I mostly know it from stuff like SCP/Backrooms, but to read it in traditional book format was a lot of fun. I think that generally is my main emotion about the book: fun! It was not particularly innovative, neither with the setting or the plot twists, but I found it immensly enjoyable.
I also really liked the writing style, in that it was super easy to read (I read most of the book in one sitting) and it really made all of what was happening play out like a movie in my head. Which, actually, this book would be GREAT for a movie adaption. Why hasn't that happened yet??
Another fun detail was that IKEA actually exists in this setting - ORSK is just an even cheaper competitor.
Lastly, it added a nice chunk of capitalist and corporate critique, which I always love to see in a horror book. "Corporate horror" suits it quite well.
The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
I love alien stories, and I love first contact alien stories in particular - so when this also added "bizarre love triangle" in the mix I was hooked immediately. Unfortunately, there was neither "love" nor "triangle" in any shape or form - but thankfully still plenty of aliens and first contact shenanigans.
Content warnings include: death, injury, borderline slavery/loss of autonomy.
Despite all of the base hooks appealing to me, I was a bit wary of this as I was quite underwhelmed by another book by the author, Mickey7. I'm happy to say though, I enjoyed The Fourth Consort much more, though I can also see similarities in the author's style that are not my favourites.
I am not the biggest fan of flashbacks. This book had plenty, though they were (thankfully) kept rather short. They also made sense and tied directly into what was happening in the story, mostly at least (though I could have done without quite a few of them). I still wish the storytelling had been more linear overall.
The character work was quite weak. None of them really felt deep or truly fleshed out. I had no clue about the true motivations or feelings of any of the characters. Even the protagonist, Dalton, was sort of nothing - which, to be fair, is also a personality trait, I suppose. If nothing else, he was brave.
Unfortunately, that lack of character depth lead to a narrative that felt emotionally removed from the characters and events of the story. To be fair, that worked well with the comedic parts and tone of the writing, so maybe that was the intention all along.
While there is humor, I wouldn't say this is a funny book. It's mostly situational comedy, putting a human context on alien situations. Personally I found it almost too comical to the point of being distracting - I think that was at least partially because I find the subject matter of first contact stories and exploring alien cultures, combined with political intrigue and diplomatic negotiations so interesting. So to approach all that in a less than serious matter wasn't my favourite - or rather, I just wanted more from all of it. Instead, what I got only just scratched the surface.
I still enjoyed all those aspects of the story, as well as the plot twists, though I also would have enjoyed more of it. That said, I think some central aspects were criminally underutilized.
A small example is the sentient translator chip in Dalton's ear, which sometimes gives snarky commentary. It could have been used for so much more cool things!
A much bigger and more crucial example: the whole consort business. I still have no clue what exactly the purpose of it all was. Without going into too much detail or giving too much away, Dalton is simply declared consort of the head-alien, but there is no why or how or really what that even means, other than vague surface level "here are your new quarters" kind of stuff.
(I also wished the other consorts had been more relevant as characters, but alas, not like any other characters got more attention.)
What bothered me the most about this book was that it definitely was not an alien romance - that is fine! - but it almost sort of pretends that it is? But it reads like it also did not want to commit to that. I did not really expect a romance going it, and there was none, but some details almost made me think there would be some. I think the most egregious example both for that romance part, as well as the lack of commitment to is, is that at multiple points in the book the word "partner" is used... just to be switched to "friend" in the last chapter. The switch is not explained, but it's implied that it is because the sentient translator got better at translating over time. I found that almost cowardly, like come on, just commit to the bit at this point, don't chicken out! (Full disclosure though, I read an ARC so the choice of words may be subject to change in the final copy.)
On the other hand, the previously mentioned weak characters applied to the not-love interest as well, as well as to the relationship between him and Dalton, so maybe it was for the best. I would have loved to see more of their relationship, or even a second book about them, but this is advertised as a standalone.
Ultimately this is a fun, fast-paced alien first-contact adventure with dominant comedy elements and surface level intrigue and mystery plots. The advertising is not at all accurate with the "love triangle" bit, so beware, I definitely fell for it and was disappointed.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily
Content warnings include: death, injury, borderline slavery/loss of autonomy.
Despite all of the base hooks appealing to me, I was a bit wary of this as I was quite underwhelmed by another book by the author, Mickey7. I'm happy to say though, I enjoyed The Fourth Consort much more, though I can also see similarities in the author's style that are not my favourites.
I am not the biggest fan of flashbacks. This book had plenty, though they were (thankfully) kept rather short. They also made sense and tied directly into what was happening in the story, mostly at least (though I could have done without quite a few of them). I still wish the storytelling had been more linear overall.
The character work was quite weak. None of them really felt deep or truly fleshed out. I had no clue about the true motivations or feelings of any of the characters. Even the protagonist, Dalton, was sort of nothing - which, to be fair, is also a personality trait, I suppose. If nothing else, he was brave.
Unfortunately, that lack of character depth lead to a narrative that felt emotionally removed from the characters and events of the story. To be fair, that worked well with the comedic parts and tone of the writing, so maybe that was the intention all along.
While there is humor, I wouldn't say this is a funny book. It's mostly situational comedy, putting a human context on alien situations. Personally I found it almost too comical to the point of being distracting - I think that was at least partially because I find the subject matter of first contact stories and exploring alien cultures, combined with political intrigue and diplomatic negotiations so interesting. So to approach all that in a less than serious matter wasn't my favourite - or rather, I just wanted more from all of it. Instead, what I got only just scratched the surface.
I still enjoyed all those aspects of the story, as well as the plot twists, though I also would have enjoyed more of it. That said, I think some central aspects were criminally underutilized.
A small example is the sentient translator chip in Dalton's ear, which sometimes gives snarky commentary. It could have been used for so much more cool things!
A much bigger and more crucial example: the whole consort business. I still have no clue what exactly the purpose of it all was. Without going into too much detail or giving too much away, Dalton is simply declared consort of the head-alien, but there is no why or how or really what that even means, other than vague surface level "here are your new quarters" kind of stuff.
(I also wished the other consorts had been more relevant as characters, but alas, not like any other characters got more attention.)
What bothered me the most about this book was that it definitely was not an alien romance - that is fine! - but it almost sort of pretends that it is? But it reads like it also did not want to commit to that. I did not really expect a romance going it, and there was none, but some details almost made me think there would be some. I think the most egregious example both for that romance part, as well as the lack of commitment to is, is that at multiple points in the book the word "partner" is used... just to be switched to "friend" in the last chapter. The switch is not explained, but it's implied that it is because the sentient translator got better at translating over time. I found that almost cowardly, like come on, just commit to the bit at this point, don't chicken out! (Full disclosure though, I read an ARC so the choice of words may be subject to change in the final copy.)
On the other hand, the previously mentioned weak characters applied to the not-love interest as well, as well as to the relationship between him and Dalton, so maybe it was for the best. I would have loved to see more of their relationship, or even a second book about them, but this is advertised as a standalone.
Ultimately this is a fun, fast-paced alien first-contact adventure with dominant comedy elements and surface level intrigue and mystery plots. The advertising is not at all accurate with the "love triangle" bit, so beware, I definitely fell for it and was disappointed.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily
This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
SciFi horror with both societal and environmental horror which didn't quite get explored enough for me.
Read his review and more on the blog! -> https://mibookreviews.wordpress.com/2024/10/27/this-world-is-not-yours-2/
Content warnings include: messy relationship, murder, abandonment, death, compulsory heterosexuality/arranged partnerships.
This started out feeling more like a series of snapshots of the characters' lives rather than continuous chapters. For me, that made it a bit harder to get into it, and it started out as a slow read for me, but then it sped up really quickly and I finished 80% of the book in a single sitting.
I was instantly intrigued by the characters. Vinh and Amara are <i>messy.</i> My god. They treat each other so badly but they just can't stay away from each other. But the book isn't just about the couple, but also about Jesse, their close friend - and something is clearly up with him. "Toxic polycule" really fits them all well.
While the planetary/environmental horror of the Grey, a strange "fog" that mercilessly disassembles anything it deems harmful to the planet that humanity is trying to colonize, is always in the background, a lot of the book focusses more of the every-day horror or human relationships, jealousy and hurt feelings. In addition, some societal horror is added due to the measures the colony takes after disaster strikes.
I wanted more from all of these horror aspects. When one is prominent, the others pretty much get forgotten, but even when the focus is on one of them it never goes particularly deep. I especially wanted more from the Grey. Most of the Grey happens in chapters from Jesse's POV, but we pretty much never get any answers about the whats and whys of what's going on between him and the Grey. And I really wanted answers, as I found those chapters the most intriguing!
Overall I wanted more from this, but I also understand that this is a novella that can't explore things the same way as a full length novel could. Maybe a longer format would have worked better for the story, but at the same time, I'm happy the jealousy didn't get that much more time to be explored because I don't enjoy reading about it that much.
Ultimately, I especially wanted more from the planetary horror/the Grey in particular. The cover felt kind of misleading in that way, even though I really like it.
I did like the ending, it felt deserved for the characters. That said, I also wasn't 100% sure on what really happened? Still, it felt good.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Read his review and more on the blog! -> https://mibookreviews.wordpress.com/2024/10/27/this-world-is-not-yours-2/
Content warnings include: messy relationship, murder, abandonment, death, compulsory heterosexuality/arranged partnerships.
This started out feeling more like a series of snapshots of the characters' lives rather than continuous chapters. For me, that made it a bit harder to get into it, and it started out as a slow read for me, but then it sped up really quickly and I finished 80% of the book in a single sitting.
I was instantly intrigued by the characters. Vinh and Amara are <i>messy.</i> My god. They treat each other so badly but they just can't stay away from each other. But the book isn't just about the couple, but also about Jesse, their close friend - and something is clearly up with him. "Toxic polycule" really fits them all well.
While the planetary/environmental horror of the Grey, a strange "fog" that mercilessly disassembles anything it deems harmful to the planet that humanity is trying to colonize, is always in the background, a lot of the book focusses more of the every-day horror or human relationships, jealousy and hurt feelings. In addition, some societal horror is added due to the measures the colony takes after disaster strikes.
I wanted more from all of these horror aspects. When one is prominent, the others pretty much get forgotten, but even when the focus is on one of them it never goes particularly deep. I especially wanted more from the Grey. Most of the Grey happens in chapters from Jesse's POV, but we pretty much never get any answers about the whats and whys of what's going on between him and the Grey. And I really wanted answers, as I found those chapters the most intriguing!
Overall I wanted more from this, but I also understand that this is a novella that can't explore things the same way as a full length novel could. Maybe a longer format would have worked better for the story, but at the same time, I'm happy the jealousy didn't get that much more time to be explored because I don't enjoy reading about it that much.
Ultimately, I especially wanted more from the planetary horror/the Grey in particular. The cover felt kind of misleading in that way, even though I really like it.
I did like the ending, it felt deserved for the characters. That said, I also wasn't 100% sure on what really happened? Still, it felt good.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Super fun and fast-paced time loop adventure!
Content warnings include: death, violence, injury; Mentions of: abduction, torture, child abandonment, breakup.
This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed thee worldbuilding centered mostly around a city in which guilds and richt city-elders rule, combined with alternate reality shenanigans. The most prominent guilds for the books are the Hounds (police/investigators/security) and Cats (spies/assassins/burglars), though there are also Ravens (scholars/librarians/academics), Wolves (mercenaries) and Butterflies (entertainers).
Kembral, the protagonist, is a Hound, but as she just recently gave birth and is caring for her newborn, she is on leave. So when, on her first night out since the birth, things go sideways, she is not pleased...
The city is also called Prime, and there are several layers of "Echos" beneath it, mirror realities that get stranger and more magical the further down you go. As a Hound, Kembral specialises in Echo related investigtions, and is particularly skilled in that area. And of course, this is also how the time loop comes in...
Time loop isn't technically what is happening here, but it comes close enough, and I really enjoyed it. It's very fast paced so it's never repetetive, even though we see the same few hours (feels much faster than that) play out over and over again. The book also starts right in, getting into the thick of it much fast than I thought it would.
I also really enjoyed the characters. Kembral was a great protagonist, she's the workaholic sort who shoulders any responsibility and risk more than readily enough and doesn't accept anyone (but herself) getting harmed. She is upstanding and honest, and as such the complete opposite of Rika, her erstwhile friendly rival, a cunning and competent Cat who's path she crossed a lot professionally. But they had a recent falling out, the details of which the reader is not readily given at the start.
While these are the main ones, I also really enjoyed the side characters: Dona Marjorie, the hostess, Jayce, Kembral's best friend, Dona Vandelle and Dona Harkin, two politicans, Blair, a Raven, and Pearson, a colleague of Kembrals, as well as many more!
The mysteries are unveiled slowly, both of the character- and plot-relevant sort. I think this will be a lot of fun to rereading in a while, when knowing all the details of what things that happen in the first loop mean, when the book only reveals the details way later. I also have to admit that some details I found not all that easy to follow across each loop, and even in retrospect I am a bit confused how things worked. That did not impede my reading enjoyment though.
There is a sapphic romantic subplot that is both subtle and not. Not subtle because it's pretty obvious there is something going on, even when we have no idea how the characters are gonna get there in the beginning. But also subtle because it's not that overly romantic, partially maybe because Kembral is asexual. It was subtle representation, which I enjoyed a lot!
Overall great read, that works on its own but also clearly already plants some plot hooks for more books to come.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Content warnings include: death, violence, injury; Mentions of: abduction, torture, child abandonment, breakup.
This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed thee worldbuilding centered mostly around a city in which guilds and richt city-elders rule, combined with alternate reality shenanigans. The most prominent guilds for the books are the Hounds (police/investigators/security) and Cats (spies/assassins/burglars), though there are also Ravens (scholars/librarians/academics), Wolves (mercenaries) and Butterflies (entertainers).
Kembral, the protagonist, is a Hound, but as she just recently gave birth and is caring for her newborn, she is on leave. So when, on her first night out since the birth, things go sideways, she is not pleased...
The city is also called Prime, and there are several layers of "Echos" beneath it, mirror realities that get stranger and more magical the further down you go. As a Hound, Kembral specialises in Echo related investigtions, and is particularly skilled in that area. And of course, this is also how the time loop comes in...
Time loop isn't technically what is happening here, but it comes close enough, and I really enjoyed it. It's very fast paced so it's never repetetive, even though we see the same few hours (feels much faster than that) play out over and over again. The book also starts right in, getting into the thick of it much fast than I thought it would.
I also really enjoyed the characters. Kembral was a great protagonist, she's the workaholic sort who shoulders any responsibility and risk more than readily enough and doesn't accept anyone (but herself) getting harmed. She is upstanding and honest, and as such the complete opposite of Rika, her erstwhile friendly rival, a cunning and competent Cat who's path she crossed a lot professionally. But they had a recent falling out, the details of which the reader is not readily given at the start.
While these are the main ones, I also really enjoyed the side characters: Dona Marjorie, the hostess, Jayce, Kembral's best friend, Dona Vandelle and Dona Harkin, two politicans, Blair, a Raven, and Pearson, a colleague of Kembrals, as well as many more!
The mysteries are unveiled slowly, both of the character- and plot-relevant sort. I think this will be a lot of fun to rereading in a while, when knowing all the details of what things that happen in the first loop mean, when the book only reveals the details way later. I also have to admit that some details I found not all that easy to follow across each loop, and even in retrospect I am a bit confused how things worked. That did not impede my reading enjoyment though.
There is a sapphic romantic subplot that is both subtle and not. Not subtle because it's pretty obvious there is something going on, even when we have no idea how the characters are gonna get there in the beginning. But also subtle because it's not that overly romantic, partially maybe because Kembral is asexual. It was subtle representation, which I enjoyed a lot!
Overall great read, that works on its own but also clearly already plants some plot hooks for more books to come.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
What a fun read! To be perfectly honest, this did have some flaws and things that, to me, didn't quite add up or felt a bit reductive, but I had so much fun with it that I'm counting this as a new favourite.
Misha is incredibly jaded and I greatly enjoyed him as a protagonist. His dry manner, always ready to tell people to fuck off, felt almost refreshing somehow, probably due to the combination with the frustrating politics and posturing of Hollywood.
Misha as a up and coming screenwriter, who is semi-closeted and fighting his own demons through his screenplays was a great choice and super interesting to read.
Centering the main plot around queer erasure and the questionable rise of AI was and equally great choice. The plot hooks also start right from the beginning in multiple ways, and are just super intriguing.
I also enjoyed the flashback scenes giving background to some of Misha's creations, most of which deal with a childhood trauma of his.
His character arc around his trauma was probably one of my favourites. I greatly enjoyed the horror one too, though that one was almost not as directly scary at some points anymore, though still present and very intense.
The climax of the book was great, though it had a suprisingly long aftermath that made perfect sense in retrospect.
As I said, there were a few things that didn't make sense to me. There are a bunch of other chapters neither dealing with Misha in the present nor flashbacks, and I am very confused why those were there, what they were meant to acchieve, and it didn't make sense to me in the context of the story.
I further found particularly the aftermath of a central culminating event to be very bizarre, in a close to unbelieveable way.
But these things didn't bother me much, and I still had such an amazing time with this!
Misha is incredibly jaded and I greatly enjoyed him as a protagonist. His dry manner, always ready to tell people to fuck off, felt almost refreshing somehow, probably due to the combination with the frustrating politics and posturing of Hollywood.
Misha as a up and coming screenwriter, who is semi-closeted and fighting his own demons through his screenplays was a great choice and super interesting to read.
Centering the main plot around queer erasure and the questionable rise of AI was and equally great choice. The plot hooks also start right from the beginning in multiple ways, and are just super intriguing.
I also enjoyed the flashback scenes giving background to some of Misha's creations, most of which deal with a childhood trauma of his.
His character arc around his trauma was probably one of my favourites. I greatly enjoyed the horror one too, though that one was almost not as directly scary at some points anymore, though still present and very intense.
The climax of the book was great, though it had a suprisingly long aftermath that made perfect sense in retrospect.
As I said, there were a few things that didn't make sense to me. There are a bunch of other chapters neither dealing with Misha in the present nor flashbacks, and I am very confused why those were there, what they were meant to acchieve, and it didn't make sense to me in the context of the story.
I further found particularly the aftermath of a central culminating event to be very bizarre, in a close to unbelieveable way.
But these things didn't bother me much, and I still had such an amazing time with this!
The Backup Plan by Eden Finley
funny
medium-paced
- 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
RTC
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
anxiety disorder
Rival by Eden Finley
4.5
Fun romance novella!
It features college "rivals" who end up in the same sports agency as intern, both coveting the limited full-time jobs, and who then find each other once more rivals in the corporate retreat teambuilding competition.
The way the two character, Camden and Xavier, view their college rivalry was very different. Apologies were made, of course, though I wish it had been handled a bit more seriously, as for one of them it certainly felt quite a lot like bullying... on the other hand, this is a lighthearted romance novella, and it all ended up fine, so I didn't mind too much.
The "teambuilding" competition also wasn't enirely a new concept from the author, as it reminded me of the borderline hazing stuff in Face Offs & Cheap Shots, but it felt a lot less malicious or dangerous this time, so it was fun.
I also, as usual, greatly enjoyed the cameos from familiar characters, as well as introduction of new ones that I hope will appear in the upcoming King Sports series!
Great introductory novella to a new series.
It features college "rivals" who end up in the same sports agency as intern, both coveting the limited full-time jobs, and who then find each other once more rivals in the corporate retreat teambuilding competition.
The way the two character, Camden and Xavier, view their college rivalry was very different. Apologies were made, of course, though I wish it had been handled a bit more seriously, as for one of them it certainly felt quite a lot like bullying... on the other hand, this is a lighthearted romance novella, and it all ended up fine, so I didn't mind too much.
The "teambuilding" competition also wasn't enirely a new concept from the author, as it reminded me of the borderline hazing stuff in Face Offs & Cheap Shots, but it felt a lot less malicious or dangerous this time, so it was fun.
I also, as usual, greatly enjoyed the cameos from familiar characters, as well as introduction of new ones that I hope will appear in the upcoming King Sports series!
Great introductory novella to a new series.
Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik
4.5
Book 7 makes Temeraire and Laurence give up on an idyllic retirement/life sentence in Australia and brings them to South America and the Incan Empire, where things -of course- do not go according to plan.
Content warnings include: shipwreck, character death, amputation, plague, arranged marriage, homophobia, violence and war, graphic injury, lots of people get drunk which leads to extremely ill adviced decisions with horrible consequences, characters are taken prisoner, slavery, hostage situation, dragon attacking humans; mentions of sexual harassment, threat of committing suicide.
Aside from their time spent in the Incan Empire, the journeys to and from are not negligible. A lot of things happen, and while some of them are comical to the reader (if not to the characters), many are horrible.
So much waste of life :(
Overall I like this installment of the series. There are some new reveals to well-known characters and a lot of character development in general, as well as the reappearance of some familiar faces from the earlier books. As usual there is a lot of political machinations going on, many of which are intricate, and often connected back to the war.
Content warnings include: shipwreck, character death, amputation, plague, arranged marriage, homophobia, violence and war, graphic injury, lots of people get drunk which leads to extremely ill adviced decisions with horrible consequences, characters are taken prisoner, slavery, hostage situation, dragon attacking humans; mentions of sexual harassment, threat of committing suicide.
Aside from their time spent in the Incan Empire, the journeys to and from are not negligible. A lot of things happen, and while some of them are comical to the reader (if not to the characters), many are horrible.
So much waste of life :(
Overall I like this installment of the series. There are some new reveals to well-known characters and a lot of character development in general, as well as the reappearance of some familiar faces from the earlier books. As usual there is a lot of political machinations going on, many of which are intricate, and often connected back to the war.