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hedyharper's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
caitcosentino's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I guessed most of the twists but still enjoyed it. I do wish the villian was a little more compelling.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Kidnapping and Blood
Minor: Death
alliemikennareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism
aliciawhatsthestory'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
5.0
The way that Ella is treated as she starts as the the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute in the clouds draws a clear parallel to real world prejudice and the ways that “politeness” and “tradition” are weaponized against marginalized people. Despite this clear commentary, the story stays focused on Ella, her experiences, her positive attitude, and her excellence. It highlights the importance of uplifting differences, rather than shying away from and othering them.
Through their friendship, Ella, Brigit, and Jason show bravery, heroism, and the great things that can be achieved with acceptance and collaboration. This is a truly magical world that I am excited to revisit in the second installment.
The one small annoyance was that the author seems to conflate knitting, quilting, and crochet, which are three different crafts. I am hoping for an explanation in the next book.
Graphic: Racism
Minor: Child death, Death, and Blood
qrschulte'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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Racism, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Confinement, Abandonment, Child abuse, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Murder, Torture, Medical content, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Child death
scorpstar77's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Mental illness
clarabooksit'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? No
3.25
Graphic: Classism, Bullying, and Racism
Minor: Violence, Slavery, and Murder
ejthephoenix'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? No
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Child death, Classism, and Racism
emily_mh'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? No
3.5
Let's start with the positives! Clayton has created an incredibly rich magical world. I liked the steampunk vibes and how this played into the types of transport featured. In terms of the Arcanum Training Institute, it was clear a lot of thought had gone into the Paragons and what magic could do, and it was cool seeing this reflected in the classes that Ella took. My absolute favourite part of the worldbuilding was the shops and foods that Clayton envisioned. It's these little details that really bring worlds to life for me!
As well as this, the main character Ella was a lovely one to follow. I liked her determination and curiosity. Finally, I thought it was sweet that Clayton named so many minor characters after her author friends - it was a nice touch.
Now time for the negatives. My biggest one is that you are really thrown in the deep end regarding worldbuilding - names and terminology are thrown at you in a kind of info-dumpy way so that for the first wee while I was a bit lost and overwhelmed. I still don't fully understand the difference between Conjuring and Marvelling, and why the latter shunned the former (maybe I missed something important??).
My other major issue with the book was pacing. I am being fully serious when I say that an actual plot directly involving the MC doesn't begin until you are over 60% of the way through the book. Prior to this Ella is finding her footing at the ATI, which is an important part of the story, but means that the overarching plot that is mentioned in the synopsis is pushed into the last third of the book and rushed through. I also found the way the climax was written to be quite anti-climactic. I will say that when the plot did kick in I was enjoying my time with the book much more, which gives me lots of hope for the next instalment in the series.
Overall, while I was a little disappointed by this book I would by no means say it was bad and I'm really looking forward to picking up the next instalment and seeing where Ella goes next.
As a side note, I listened to the audiobook for this one which I definitely would not recommend. The narrator could not do the accents required by the narrative and there were too many mispronunciations (e.g. preening was pronounced as pre-enning, and mimicry was pronounced as me-me-cry). The narrator also didn't follow textual cues (e.g. "she whispered" or "she hollered") and seemed more focussed one enunciation than narrating naturally and with flow.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Bullying, and Racism
Moderate: Violence and Hate crime
Minor: Excrement, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, Confinement, Physical abuse, Child death, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Medical content
Graphic: bigotry. Note: the racism in the graphic warning above refers mostly to ethnic racism. Minor: missing loved one, illness, self-injury, loss of a loved one, imprisonment.rinku's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Racism and Bullying