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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
lyndsea22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Blood
lindsayb09's review against another edition
I wanted frothy, tropey romance, but instead I got bland characterizations and way too much sociological and political worldbuilding. I'm not much of a fantasy reader and I don't care for a whole lot of worldbuilding in general, but if I'm GOING to go through all that trouble then the characters at least better be worth it.
Instead Vel's personality is mostly built around his victimization and abandonment -- and yet, despite this being his entire character for the first 25% of the book, he suddenly and completely trusts Cae for absolutely no reason. Cae himself has no discernible personality apart from "man of action" (?)
I don't care about the political intrigue at all, and honestly the author doesn't seem to care that much either. I can't be bothered to wade through all of that just to find out if the insta-love vibes continue to develop at an unrealistic pace π€·π»ββοΈ
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
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 π ).
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
readsforlove's review against another edition
4.5
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit
abbyleinbach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
seashel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Sexism, Medical content, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Abandonment, and Classism
piperclover'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
The romance between Vel and Cae is utterly delightful despite the harsh circumstances. The ending was explosive. At first I was really annoyed that >!the mastermind behind the attacks on Vel was Cae's younger sister Lacia (idk how to spell it) but when it was revealed that the Yassa/their grandmother had favored Lacia for her position and that their father favored her for his position the whole time, I was pleasantly surprised and ok with it.!<
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
reellyfish'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
There was a typo saying βWhat I have I done?β during quite an intense scene that kinda took me out scene but I was still able to understand what was trying to be said.
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol