elizlizabeth's Reviews (242)

adventurous dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a tricky review because I quite enjoyed the Netflix show of these books, but found the actual source material rather boring. Alina, the main character, has zero agency on what happens to her and seems to only be important because of her power; Mal barely appears and when he does his personality tends to be the trope of gruff pining friend; The Darkling feels childish in his motivations and means. The whole plot is a bit boring and over-extends itself given that we're only following the story of these three people that are barely fleshed out.
Some diversity is pointed at, but none of the main characters is explicitly described as of being from a different race and most of the characters called "beautiful" tend to be described with Eurocentric features. Zero LGBT+ rep is present (which is shocking, given the amount of rep in the tv show).
Overall I'd say that if you haven't watched the show yet, don't let the book deter you from it. It's a completely different beast than this, and much more diverse, enjoyable, and fun. I also hear Leigh Bardugo had a lot of room to add these little details in the show so I'll count it as a more developed version of the canon.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is an emotional rollercoaster from beggining to end. Not a fan of thrillers but this one will take all the clichés of the genre and throw them off the window. 
The writing is done super cleverly, and it gives you tiny critiques and insights on humanity and raise some questions on the way we live now, but it's not in-your-face nor preachy. The plot twists are so cleverly placed that even though they are shocking, it all fits so nicely.
The characters themselves are not very likable and its hard to choose "a side", but overall it's so fun to read about the evil, brilliant plans Amy concocts. Supporting characters are well rounded even though they do only show up for short amounts of time.
Only reason I don't rate it a 5 is because the ending felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed for me, but I'm sure someone else out there might enjoy it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings