Scan barcode
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
buttermellow's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
gremlinboi's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This review has minor spoilers, so read with caution.
I really enjoyed the world building and magical system in this book. I loved the concept of the country being split in two parts. However, I feel like this book could have been condensed by 100pgs or so. The majority of it was the main character fumbling through the politics and felt like filler which made the ending feel rushed and sloppily put together in my opinion. I did like the romance subplot though and it had me rooting for them in the end.
I really enjoyed the world building and magical system in this book. I loved the concept of the country being split in two parts. However, I feel like this book could have been condensed by 100pgs or so. The majority of it was the main character fumbling through the politics and felt like filler which made the ending feel rushed and sloppily put together in my opinion. I did like the romance subplot though and it had me rooting for them in the end.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Violence, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Child death
reign_kaur's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
The only reason I think this book counts as YA is because the main character is sixteen years old. If she was a bit older, nineteen perhaps, then I would have rated this book 5 ⭐️
The representation in this book is perfect, people of different genders, cultures, religions and sexual orientation. Most importantly is that the LGBTQIA+ didn't distract from the plot, nor was it the focus. In this fantasy world it was just as normal as assasinating your siblings for the throne.
The representation in this book is perfect, people of different genders, cultures, religions and sexual orientation. Most importantly is that the LGBTQIA+ didn't distract from the plot, nor was it the focus. In this fantasy world it was just as normal as assasinating your siblings for the throne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Gaslighting
angstifies's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the premise and the setting were very interesting and the plot was good enough but i just didn’t connect with the story at all, i didn’t find any of the characters that likable and the main character made very dense decisions almost all the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness and Violence
Minor: Suicide and Gaslighting
wet_towlette's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book has very strange pacing. It was super fast (in a bad way) in the beginning and then completely slowed down for the bulk of the book, and picked up near the end. I also don’t understand most of the characters motivations. Like the only person who makes sense in Aino. This book isn’t bad by any means and I did enjoy quite a bit of it. The plot was very interesting albeit the blurb was a bit misleading. I had fun with it, it’s just aggressively mediocre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Violence
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Violence
offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I listened to this as an audiobook and it was pretty good. The book’s representation of queer folks and gender diverse characters was very well done. Good slow burn sapphic romance. The political elements were interesting, though the end of the book felt overly complicated in its wrap up of the plot. Overall, this was a decent young adult fantasy but not amazing
Spice level: 🌶/5
Spice level: 🌶/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, 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