This book started off so good, and all the way through, I was enjoying the complex plot split between 3 main POVs and one bit POV. But the final 50 pages are just awful, and the moment of denouement explaining one character's inconsistent behavior paints her as a pathetically weak character, despite her back story being that of a tough merc witch and a survivor of a genocide that wiped out her family's village.

What worked for me in this story at first because it was unique is revealed in the end as proof that all of the characters are bumblers. None of the characters are as skilled as the writer implies, so they all fail. I want to explain in excruciating detail why things that pleased me now infuriate me because the ending makes it clear that I was misreading the book. But I can't explain my irritation without spoiling the whole thing.

So I will just sum up that if a writer is going to present characters as tough and strong magic users, only to make them into pathetic NPC-like losers during their first encounter with a spirit, then they shouldn't give me a back story building up a tough character. There was a weak character who looked like she was learning strength from the main character, and I expected her to be possessed by a ghost because she was meek and pathetic, but slowly growing stronger. Instead it's the strong witch character who's the weakest of the three women. I find it sad that a woman who saw the world as a merc and fought for her independence comes home and abandons her partner of many years to join a racist hate group who murder people en masse for not agreeing with them. The excuse given for her acceptance wouldn't be so flimsy if she wasn't a powerful witch, if she was just a merc with no magic defenses. But she is a witch, and once I realized how weak she was being presented as, it started to rub on me in those final pages.

Also problematic was how the rest of the book divided POVs cleanly, and then in the final 50 pages, there's some instances of head hopping. A man who recently died is resurrected only seconds later and used as a body shield against rifles. But when the zombie is shot, the writer incorrectly says the blood is already congealing. Not with them only having been dead thirty seconds, I don't think so.

Then the second weakest female decides to commit the most pointless act of self-sacrifice I've ever seen, making a bargain that still kills lots of people, and doesn't prevent the other disaster from destroying the city. So this is a pointless, but "heroic" suicide, (which is supposedly what she's learned from the other women, that throwing her life away is a good thing) leading to a final chapter and epilogue so rotten, I had to fight not to throw the book even when I was down to the last pages.

I wanted this to be a book about courtesan spies thwarting a terrorist plot. Instead, it's a shit sandwich about three inept dumb-asses who show up in town in time to watch the racists blow up the city in their faces. I think what irritates me most of all is how well written the vast majority of the book is. The scenes are vividly described without being purple, and the fight scenes had been pretty intense. But in the last 50 pages, the quality of the writing plummets. NOTHING works right from that point forward. Even Isyllt, who had been a great character, turns into a walking stereotype. It's almost like a different person took over for those last pages, and they had no clue what they were doing. It makes me wonder if the writer had something else penned, and the editor or publisher forced this shit ending on them because it "made more sense" or something. Well in my not so humble opinion, the ending ruins the rest of the book.

I'm giving the book 3 stars for the quality of the writing, but my distaste with the ending is so strong that I'm severely tempted to give it 2. I would not recommend this book to anyone, because most people do not like bait and switch deceptions of this magnitude. The story promised a great adventure. It delivers the most unsatisfying high fantasy experience of this year.

I picked this up from the library and only got about 30 pages in before I decided that it didn't intrigue me enough to keep reading. Might pick it up again later, who knows.

TW:

Spoiler

violence, death, occupation, terror organisation

This book immediately took me in! The setting is fascinating and the locations beautiful. I can certainly recommend it.
The writing is a bit odd at times though.

Xinai's and Adam's relationship is just wonderful, by the way.

DNF.

I feel really cheated here. The premise is amazing. The cover is badass. For the most part the writing is passable. But for some reason...I just couldn't get into this book. And I'm not sure why. I just...didn't connect. Which is a pity, because I feel like I'm missing out on a great story. The problem is, I'm not sure where that story was. The characters were unique and interesting, as was the world. But I never felt like I understood anything. I spent a long time re-reading paragraphs and teying to remember what words meant, and it was really exhausting and distracting.

And honestly? I feel guilty about dropping this one. :(

A solid and engaging first novel that takes many of the mystery and spy tropes into the fantasy world, with a well-rendered magic system and a well-built world.

I found myself more invested in most of the secondary characters, rather than the main character. I suspect that's largely because of the genre, where the lead is an investigator and catalyst, a fish out of water there to stir up and uncover. The second book is set back in her home country and I suspect engages the reader more deeply in that character.

I don't necessarily consider this a negative. Many of the best mystery series and books are more about the character, motivations, actions and suffering of the "victims" of the mystery, and character development of the protagonist is designed to happen over the long-haul, as the series progresses. I quite enjoyed the book and will likely pick up the second at some point.

My reading preferences shy away from fantasy, but I read this as part of the Heroines Book Club for our local book shop. I'm glad to be enticed out of my comfort zones by participating in groups like this. The Drowning City is an engaging and well written book filled with lush description and fulling formed characters. I particularly appreciate that the females in leadership don't need to justify their roles, Downum has constructed a world where balanced-gender leadership is the norm.

I do think that had I been better acquainted with ancient mythology, some of the characters and "creatures" in this book would have made more sense to me. That is a thin-place in my own literary education, not a criticism of this novel.

Overall, a great read.

DNF'd about halfway through, the setting and descriptions were nice but I wasn't connecting with any of the characters.

I think I'm gonna start dropping more books if I'm not enjoying them life is too short !

It's not the worst fantasy I've ever read. But my overall impression is one of "meh."

My biggest problem was the characters. There was no sense of them as real people. They were just names (confusing and seemingly interchangeable names) that went from one scene to the next. There was no sense of life or passion in any of them. These people are killing and breaking hearts and pretty much setting the whole world on its head and I don't know why.

The setting was interesting and well-developed, but I had no sense of the international politics. Honestly, but the end of the book, I still couldn't tell you the city or country the whole story took place in.

If you're really hard up for a book, then give it a try, but there are better stories out there.

This was a fabulous read. The world building was great. The characters were great (however, due to school and work. I found myself paging back to refresh myself about the secondary characters). Isyllt was awesome, but I'm hoping to hear more about Asheris (I certainly loved his twist in the story) and Adam in the sequel.

Xinai... I just couldn't bring myself to really like her character. I can understand the choices she made even joining the group. But the deaths they wreaked... no. They were basically the same as the Khas, but she ignored that probably due to her mother or due to some sense of that they were the remnants of her people.

But this was a great read nonetheless.