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mirandyli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tragicgloom'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
pixelateddragon'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
4.25
I loved the contrast of the queer-normative country with the more typically "medieval European"-esque one and how this was expressed and talked about in the text. (Loved the nonbinary representation btw!)
I knocked off a few points for how graphic the sexual assault was, I won't say it's existence wasn't important to further the conflict of the story but I felt it was in more detail than it needed to be to get the point across. Mind the trigger warnings!!!
And the plot was relatively interesting but a bit predictable, I guessed the twist pretty much as soon as the first attack happened & the MC was introduced to
I loved the relationships between characters especially the platonic & familial ones, they were dynamic and felt so real.
I ended up skipping the sex scenes so I can't really comment on them, because they always ended up playing when I was trying to eat in public (and I didn't bother to go back to them because I'm not terribly fond of having sex narrated to me in general 😅).
But overall the book was pretty enjoyable with a dynamic and rich world and characters with beautiful prose & audio narration but, it was a bit heavy handed and more explicit than needed with a few of the more 'traumatic' parts of the story (& the relationship was a bit rushed, but it's a romance book and that is typical of the genre so I can't complain too much on that), and the mystery was a bit predictable.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture
xandry'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
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
ktame001'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
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit and Classism
silly_little_clown'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
4.25
I’ll be honest, half way through the book I was fully convinced that
I have to admit that I constantly mix up the names for places and countries. Not that it hindered my reading too much, because all I had to do is to check the world map again. I think it’s the Qs and Xs in the beginning of words that are messing with my brain.
Absolutely loved the development of the relationship between Velasin and Caethari. I wish it would’ve burned more slowly but it was very sweet once they open up to each other so I can’t complain. I honestly love all the other side characters too. They (the important ones) were all pretty fleshed out and interesting to read about. Even the villains.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
vagaybond's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing
Rape is one of the first scenes in the book. This scene is stumbled upon by someone else and the protagonist (the victim in the scene) is outed and exiled from his family and homeland because of it. The protagonist has 2 suicide attempts, the second because he fears rape.thisqueerreadstoomuch'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Murder
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
If you like long, complicated political plots gone through in detail in the foreground of the story, this is a great book. If your preference is to have less of the nitty gritty detail of the complex politics, then this is going to feel long (and at 500+ pages, it is long in and of itself).
There is a traumatic happening in the early chapters of the story, and there is a lot of time spent on the recovery. The details of the traumatic happening are flagged in a content note in the pages leading up to the first chapter, so if you wish to go in unspoiled, then skipping the early pages is recommended.
Graphic: Rape and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
Minor: Transphobia
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Though it's a well-handled journey of healing, a main point of view character experiences significant trauma early in and deals with trauma recovery for much of the book.