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lovehavi's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Incest, Racism, and Violence
there is pretty blatant incest that just occurs and is not even challenged???????? unnecessaryeddieboy'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body horror and Death of parent
Minor: Incest
spooderman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Outing, and Abandonment
bennoyb'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Incest
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What do you have here? The return of a Dark King, a hidden (albeit non-elfin) city, magical objects that enslaved human kings, and a "shining lady." (Plus, also a lot of Harry Potter and Star Wars-adjacent Hero's Journey tropes.)
What else did you have? Too much. This is supposed to feel like the first book in a trilogy, yet it felt like a standalone work. You have every trope of every major fantasy series stuffed into this single <500 page volume. You have mass slaughters. You have magical romances begun, then ended, and then new ones begun. You have torture and then escape. You have slaughter. You have first, second, and third reveals about each individual character. I cannot fathom reading another two books that can sustain this momentum, yet I also worry that I could be just as exhausted at the end of each installment.
Finally, while I haven't read their Captive Prince trilogy, I know there has been some discourse around their use of enslavement as the precipitation for romance. While I won't give away too much for those who want to read Dark Rise (DM me here or on Instagram - also @criticalgayze), I will say that this book doesn't make the best case for Pacat. While I have the CP trilogy on my shelves as a planned read this year, I will be entering it a little more wearily.
Now, I did give the book 3-stars because Pacat is clearly a talented writer. This was fast-paced with an intriguing universe, even if I did want it to be a little more fleshed out, and the first half especially is a very enjoyable read before you begin to feel a little gorged as a reader.
Moderate: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Incest