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bugcollector's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
what is this bs
and when is the next one coming out 👹😀
and when is the next one coming out 👹😀
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
freckled_frog_boi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I had really high hopes for this one because it was set in old London, with a magical world hidden from the eyes of humans, and an ancient war the main characters are thrust into. Plus, we have some queer and poc rep!
However, it felt lacking on quite a few levels. Maybe because it's a YA novel, and I just didn’t check the genre beforehand? Idk. But I believe YA could be good if it were written well; this book was… not.
First of all, do you know the miscommunication trope? It felt like the author was miscommunicating to the readers the whole time. Yes, there was foreshadowing, but it was to lead us all in a different direction, only for the author to “plot twist” us all in the last 50 pages. While some foreshadowing worked for both storylines, the original wrong one and the plot-twist right one, there was no way we could have seen the twist coming, which is the opposite of the whole point of foreshadowing, I feel.
The author also had the mc spout monologues to explain what was going on, as if the mc just ~Knew~ what was going on the whole time. And even though we were in his POV most of the time, there were no hints as to what he actually knew.
AND THERE WAS NO HUMOR??? Literally, the only two funny parts were unintentional. It was not meant to be funny, but it was too absurdist not to chuckle. PSA! WE NEED MORE HUMOR IN FANTASY! PLEASE!
Also, it tried to follow the trope of having all MC parents be dead/abusive so they wouldn’t hold the heroes back from their adventure. It felt overdone and didn’t help me get into the novel. I felt like rolling my eyes.
For example, the author made a POC character, only to have her adopted parents be racist and abusive in order to force her into a hero’s journey. And then it was never discussed again. Being Indian isn’t a plot device; it's part of her character, and I wished there was more fleshed out for her. She was also described as boyish/manly, which I didn’t appreciate. Not simply because she was the only POC character as far as I could tell, but because she trains to become a strong fighter, and her “manliness” is given as one of the reasons she’s interested in swords and learning to fight. You can be feminine and like swords, goddammit. She doesn’t need to be masculine to like sword fighting!
Second of all, the queer rep was disappointing. We don’t really get a hint that Will, our MC, is bi until he kisses a girl who I’m pretty sure is his cousin. Gross. And it’s not explained away. Later, when we realize he somehow knew the truth the whole time, none of the characters even blink once about it. It’s just not addressed. Prior to him kissing his cousin, we are lead to think he’s gay; given what we are told, he appreciates other people’s “boyish” looks. To me, it felt like his attraction to women was just a plot point to build a single point of unidentifiable foreshadowing. It was not written to be a part of his character. Which sucks.
Another weird thing for me was reading the POVs of the women in the book. They all had an underlying tone that they had crushes on Will. There was no reason that needed to be in there. Like the author could have just written it, so that wasn’t the case. Idk why they chose to do that; there was no point in us reading about a bunch of women crushing on, who we thought, was a gay man. It’s just uncomfortable.
And finally! The gay romance. Firstly, the only queer romance in here was between MLM, white, pretty boys. Which is OK to have in a book, those types of characters can be wonderful. But this story wrote all of them as being extremely powerful but extremely submissive, which is just another form of harmful representation. And all of the gay romances are highly sexualized, down to stabbing scenes containing crazy sexual subtext. It made me extremely uncomfortable to read, and that’s REALLY saying something bc I like a good horny romance. This is just not a good horny. Rip.
I don’t know. With how this book was explained, I was hoping to see more of a variety of queer rep, at least healthy queer rep!
It just didn’t feel well done. Sorry guys!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ibjilln's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I don't think I've been more bored reading a book than I have been while reading this one. The narration was so dry 5 chapters felt like 20.
I was so frustrated while reading this, the premise was promising, and there were elements that typically make a great fantasy read for me, but this just wasn't it and I wanted it to be so bad that I kept going. I finished it, unfortunately.
It's been made clear to me after the fact that this is apparently the first installment of a series, but I can guarantee this one is staying in the proverbial grave for me.
I was so frustrated while reading this, the premise was promising, and there were elements that typically make a great fantasy read for me, but this just wasn't it and I wanted it to be so bad that I kept going. I finished it, unfortunately.
It's been made clear to me after the fact that this is apparently the first installment of a series, but I can guarantee this one is staying in the proverbial grave for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Classism
Minor: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Classism
laesterlurch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Torture, and War
Minor: Vomit
bookaddictedfox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
The world building of this book was so interesting! It's done in such a way you could almost imagine these types of things happening in our very own world!
The characters are so well crafted with their own strengths and weaknesses and I loved that you don't always entirely know what is going on and what could happen next!
The characters are so well crafted with their own strengths and weaknesses and I loved that you don't always entirely know what is going on and what could happen next!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
This is an epic adventure of a book.
Will was told to run by his mother just before she was killed. Now he has been found. Not just from the bad guys, but by the ones that want to stop darkness from happening.
In a time before anyone can remember there was a fight for everything. Good Vs Evil, Light Vs Dark. The light side only just overpowered the Dark King, but before he died, he vowed to return. The Light has kept vigil through the ages.
Now the Dark King is ready to rise. The Stewards of the Light prepare for battle, and Will must decide what to do. Run or fight.
This story does not disappoint. There is action, adventure, romance, friendship, bravery, death. It takes a bit to get to what happened in the past, but it weaves beautifully into the present (1821).
This is the first of the series.
Will was told to run by his mother just before she was killed. Now he has been found. Not just from the bad guys, but by the ones that want to stop darkness from happening.
In a time before anyone can remember there was a fight for everything. Good Vs Evil, Light Vs Dark. The light side only just overpowered the Dark King, but before he died, he vowed to return. The Light has kept vigil through the ages.
Now the Dark King is ready to rise. The Stewards of the Light prepare for battle, and Will must decide what to do. Run or fight.
This story does not disappoint. There is action, adventure, romance, friendship, bravery, death. It takes a bit to get to what happened in the past, but it weaves beautifully into the present (1821).
This is the first of the series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, Racism, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
lena_loves_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I finished this yesterday after listening to the last half for hours but I needed some time to gather my thoughts.
I didn't have the highest expectations but I read Dark Rise anyway because of it's popularity. AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH MORE THAN EXPECTED!
This is a great start to the series, I was immediately intrigued by the world even though it felt like nothing new. The author put some unexpected twists on the "hero(s) saves world from darkness".
I didn't expect a lot of romance and there wasn't but THE CHEMISTRY. I was trembling. Screaming. Can't wait to see more of it in the sequel!
On the other hand, this book is not flawless. The biggest problem is the size and pacing. It's definitely very slow in the beginning which is why I recommend the audiobook and long train / car rides for starting it! 2.5x speed and the pace barely bothered me. Violet had so much potential but her POVs didn't add much to the story, even though I liked her more than Will. Some scenes could've easily been left out.
I highly recommend it anyways and I'm really looking forward to part 2 and 3!
I think I'll read The Captive Prince series soon, I need more books by this author!
I didn't have the highest expectations but I read Dark Rise anyway because of it's popularity. AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH MORE THAN EXPECTED!
This is a great start to the series, I was immediately intrigued by the world even though it felt like nothing new. The author put some unexpected twists on the "hero(s) saves world from darkness".
I didn't expect a lot of romance and there wasn't but THE CHEMISTRY. I was trembling. Screaming. Can't wait to see more of it in the sequel!
On the other hand, this book is not flawless. The biggest problem is the size and pacing. It's definitely very slow in the beginning which is why I recommend the audiobook and long train / car rides for starting it! 2.5x speed and the pace barely bothered me. Violet had so much potential but her POVs didn't add much to the story, even though I liked her more than Will. Some scenes could've easily been left out.
I highly recommend it anyways and I'm really looking forward to part 2 and 3!
I think I'll read The Captive Prince series soon, I need more books by this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Blood
mals_library's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death
Minor: Vomit
nirelocin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death and Toxic relationship