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lydiazwag's review against another edition
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
beansprout15'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: Violence
brittbee07'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? No
3.0
Right from the start, I was able to predict the major plot points well before they happened. I don't mind this in a story, I like to be able to work bits and pieces out, but it felt like I was able to work every major plot point out before it happened because the points weren't original.
The characters were okay. The relationships were okay. The climax was okay. It was, honestly, just an okay book overall. Nothing special.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and War
icy1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I really like the plot for the most part in this book. I think the villain is very unique and is unlike any other fantasy I've ever read. I do think near the middle of the book once they left the tower the story started to drag a little. I think their time spent in the kingdom could've been shortened and still convey everything that needed conveyed for the narrative.
My biggest gripe with this book is the "romance" (if you can even call it that). First of all, the main character is 17 and the love interest is 100-something. Now, I get that aging is different for the main characters, and in this world it seems like in this world that 17 year olds are basically already treated as adults anyway. But I do wish the main character was at least a bit older for my own peace of mind.
Second of all, there really is no love or romance between the two characters. It's just lust. I literally had to put the book down and roll my eyes at the two (and there's really only two in the whole book) romance scenes between the two characters because it just came out of nowhere at felt like an afterthought for the author. I wish the characters (especially love interest guy, not saying because of spoilers) got more character development throughout the novel. That would've been nice in general, but it also would've helped readers see why the main character fell for the love interest. Honestly, it would've made more sense based on what I did see if she just ended up with Kasia instead.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
milesofsmiles'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
4.0
I like to think this was modeled around medieval times and back then it was more acceptable, definitely not okay now. It's a dark fantasy with swords, poor villages, kings and queens, wizards and witches, complete with a young maiden in a tower.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
elanuruysal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
makemestagger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
queenbumi's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
The characters just did not mean much to me. I felt little to no care about what would happen to them. I felt like I barely knew them. Could not point them out in a line up.
I did like the way the Wood was “remedied”… in regard to the message it conveyed. Even though it felt really disconnected from the earlier parts of the book? It was strange… like each chapter was written by a different person who didn’t have knowledge of previous chapters other than the SparkNotes summaries.
The romance was very … shallow? I’m perfectly fine with the romance plot being in the background, I’m okay that it wasn’t more major than it was. But it felt like there was no reason they even liked each other except for the forced proximity in early chapters? I liked their scenes working together to create and build their magic, and I honestly think this book may have been better if they had a friendship relationship instead 😅
I think I’m mainly angry because people told me to read this if I loved Emily Wilde … and uh no. No, don’t do that.
Moderate: Violence
anna_curlyquotesediting'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Minor: War
timbsy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, and Classism
Minor: Slavery and Vomit