Cass

It's been a few days since finishing this book, and thus finishing this story and I'm still feeling so full. The poeticism and word-wizardry is such a gift to read and the continuation of the story is beautiful.

This book made me laugh and cry and smile and reflect, not only on Ronoah and his friends and experiences, but on my own self. To be able to invest yourself so deeply into a book and its story and characters and to have that book prod back, lodging itself into your little brain folds to think on its philosophies and theories to apply in your own practices is a gift.

I already cannot wait to re-read

I had read this because it received glowing excitement from many people I know and they were excited for the show, so I figured I'd give it a go. I bought all the books, including Six of Crows, anticipating to love it and very quickly was underwhelmed and disappointed. There is a glaring issue with fat people in this book and the first chapters especially do NOT let you forget it. Nearly EVERY vaguely unpleasant character, or person we're supposed to hate, is described with some derogatory way of being fat or chubby or filled out while simultaneously emphasizing how skinny the protagonist is. First time or two, I was trying to convince myself it was a fluke, just a one or two time mistake, but it just kept happening. I finished the book and was underwhelmed with the story in general and didn't feel engaged enough to continue, so I returned them all.

Honestly enjoyed the show more than I expected based off of reading the book, and might pick up Six of Crows one day because I hear it's much better in pretty much all ways.

I'd put off reading this book for months because I didn't realize it was YA and was expecting a much harder read but when I finally got to it, I blasted right through because I was SO into it. This book moves fast and hits hard & heavy--Xiran didn't come to fuck around. They balance the tone & rating of YA with some very heavy topics phenomenally. It doesn't shy away from the horrors it discusses, but simultaneously never felt like it was crossing a boundary into Adult Fantasy. It completely impressed me all the way through, reading Mecha fights I could imagine like straight out of an anime, all the way to the polyamory which I knew about going in, but was still delighted by how it was portrayed and talked about by the characters. Absolutely cannot wait for the next book!

An absolute 5-star book that fist fights you the entire way through. It is a masterful depiction of grief and the loathsome emptiness when one cannot cope. It gaslights you till it hurls reveal after jaw-dropping reveal in your face. Like Gideon, it's an absolute treasure to re-read. Unlike Gideon, this book is not nearly as clear cut, and that's a good thing. It deserves to be meditated on and re-read and discussed. The religious trauma written into it has it demanding shared worship of the story as a means of appreciation and understanding and I think that's fucking cool and awesome. This book does to the reader exactly what it means to and rips your heart out perfectly (again). Harrow is a phenomenal character and the narrator is positively fascinating.