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miraileah's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5. I loved this! I really liked Ekata’s character development, I thought her journey was really realistic and understandable, and I enjoyed reading it (though it frustrated me at times). Inkar was a great supporting character, and Eirhan and Aino were fun to read as well. I did feel that the other council members were sort of samey and hard to tell apart at times, but I also felt Ekata’s confusion was reflected by this choice, so I can respect it. Overall though, I thought the story was really well structured and paced, and I loved the world building and character work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical content and Violence
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’ll be the first to admit this was a total impulse, cover-buy! A sapphic re-telling of The Goblin Emperor? Yes please!
But while the story was set up with political tension, a unique magic system and a fantastic love interest; it was let down by a slightly flat (and dare I say it, whiny) protagonist and an over excess of slightly dry politics that threatened to eclipse the tension of the plot.
Although, the highlights were the queer-normative society in the book. No-one is assumed to be completely straight and there are non-binary characters with “they/them” pronouns that no-one questions. In addition, the titles in the book are not gendered at all which was totally refreshing. I really would’ve liked to have the relationship between Ekata and Inkar better fleshed out but since the entire plot takes place over 6 days, this didn’t really happen!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Violence
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