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erebus53'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
4.25
There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.
A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.
A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline, at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.
The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.
Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
ivereads'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Misogyny, War, Xenophobia, Grief, and Sexual content
ellyrium's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Suicide, and Animal death
akaspiderlily'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
5.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Gore, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism
ash_ton's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Torture, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Addiction, Biphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, and Suicide
that_boi_eliza's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: War, Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Trafficking, Classism, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Drug use, and Death
Minor: Ableism and Confinement
discarded_dust_jacket'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Murder, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Classism and Racism
Minor: Trafficking, Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Slavery
tinysierra's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
There was a mix of character driven and plot driven moments. I felt like there was a lot of slow/medium paced moments where there was more focus on character development/interactions but it did pick up in some places with more plot related aspects. It kept my attention either way.
The timeline hopped around a bit, jumping back into the past and then forward into the present. Slowly putting the pieces together. The chapters had the date along with experts from in world media (like journal entries), which really added to my immersion.
I liked Xiala and Serapio’s chapters the most. It was nice to see the story through a blind characters perspective. I hope to see more about Xiala’s powers in the next book.
In this book, queer characters are accepted in some of the societies but not others. There are characters that use neopronouns (xe/xir)! Xiala mentions that she takes pleasure with “men, women, and other genders” which I assume means that she’s bi or pan.
The ending was fast and admittedly a little anticlimactic but I don’t find myself feeling disappointed. I’m curious about where the story is going.
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Homophobia, Suicide, and War
Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Animal death, Vomit, and Sexual content
sup3r_xn0va_maya'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
4.5
I want to like aspects of the blind representation but upon a closer look the blind main character kind of falls into the "magical disabled persons" trope and I don't like that very much.
"Typically, the disabled characters are limited to four types: the “magical cripple,” the “evil cripple,” the “inspirational cripple” and the “redemptive cripple.” Magical cripples transcend the limitations of the human body and are almost divinelike. They make magical things happen for able-bodied characters."
- PBS.org
I really liked Xiala, I like how relatable Serapio was, the queerness, and the addition or introduction of a third gender.
This was a really good read and I can't wait to dig into the next book in the series.
I'm giving this 4.5 stars out of 5
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Confinement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Violence
barbarella85's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Murder, and Blood