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bree_h_reads's review against another edition
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
thenexthing's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
alexalily'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
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Stalking, Gaslighting, Torture, Child abuse, and Medical content
lilifane'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
4.0
I loved the atmosphere and the setting in this island world with a mysterious past/mythology, ruins and secrets. I enjoyed the different POVs, but Jovis was definitely my favourite. Not only was his character fleshed out the most, he also had the best animal companion, which is always a plus. I was interested in Lin's POV too, but I had problems understanding her and her actions/motivations. Until about 75% into the book, when her story became super intriguing, unfortunately by then there was no time to explore it more in the book. The other three POVs had the least amount of page time, and although I liked the discussions about class differences in Phalue's and Ranami's chapters, their story felt really rushed and cut short. I don't know what to think about Sand, I am curious, but I'm not really looking forward to her story at this point.
The bone shard magic is cool in concept, but hard to grasp in my opinion. And when it finally gets somewhere, it gets really messy and... much, and then the book is over. But I am curious, mostly because I have no idea where the story is going, since it's so different from what I've read in the genre so far.
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Dementia, and Violence
alt05's review
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Classism
wombie's review
- 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
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Classism, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
booksthatburn'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? Yes
5.0
The plot has several threads, following each of the main characters. The blurb implies that Lin is the only main character, but Jovis plays an enormous role (meeting all but one of the other main characters at various points), and the romance between Phalue and Ranami felt complex and real. Lin is the daughter of the emperor, trying to get her father's approval by getting back memories she lost in a sickness several years ago. Jovis is a smuggler who is trying to find his wife who was kidnapped five years ago. He ends up rescuing children from having their shards taken. Phalue is the daughter of a governor on one of the islands, and Ranami is her girlfriend who keeps turning down Phalue's marriage proposals because Phalue doesn't seem to understand the enormity of her privilege in comparison to everyone on the island. There's a woman called Sand who is trying to escape her current situation, I don't want to spoil anything about her but she seems set up to do much more in the sequel.
Lin has spent years trying to get her father's approval, and is frustrated by his ableist insistence that she's not whole unless she can get back the memories she lost. Desperate to get him to pay attention to her as she is and not as she was, Lin starts copying his keys to get access to rooms that might hold knowledge of the magic he should be teaching her. She's in competition with her foster brother Bayan since he regained more of his memories and seems to continually be one step ahead of her in getting the emperor's attention.
The relationship between Phalue and Ranami briefly dips into some toxic territory as Phalue doesn't seem to understand or know how to take seriously Ranami's concerns. It definitely helps that both of them are narrators, so their perspectives are shown directly at various points.
Jovis ends up with an animal companion after he saves it from the water during a disaster early one. Mephi is pretty cool and not annoying, which is a relief because sometimes I end up detesting animal sidekicks.
The magic system is based on using bone taken from the empire's citizens as children. The shards can be used to power constructs, and once in use they slowly drain the life force of their original owner. The emperor uses an elaborate array of constructs to do all the imperial bureaucracy which could be done by people, but he doesn't trust anyone else to do it right. This setup means that the way the lower classes are exploited is more than just cruelty and resource hoarding by the rich, but that their very lives can be taken, slowly, by an emperor they'll never see, if he happens to pick their shard from a drawer and use it to fuel a construct. I love the way the magic system is inseparable from the political structure and brewing uprising.
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Confinement, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Vomit
tahsintries's review
4.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Confinement
btorsi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
gayghostprince's review
- 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: Body horror, Death, Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: War, Blood, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Classism
Minor: Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Trafficking