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sunshine915's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I had difficulty getting into this book as the author seemed to like to use complicated language for no apparent reason. I found it really slow and laborious at first but then it jumped into more interesting things. The world building was ok. It was not pedantic. I am excited to read the second book so it wasn’t awful.
eoghans's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
leeleet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
This was a very enjoyable read with great characters and an interesting plot. It missed out on 5 stars just because a few things annoyed me. But I definitely recommend this book for fantasy readers.
zeros_and_ones's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
smol_cat's review against another edition
4.0
I need to ponder my final review for this one - the premise is intriguing, the world building complex, and the magic system totally unique. But the book does struggle a bit with carrying all of that at once. This was definitely a stepping stone to establish the world/MCs/magic system for the future series. A necessary stepping stone, but still a stepping stone. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it because I did, and will likely continue to read the series. I liked the dual POVs from the two MCs as they face off from the opposite sides of a struggling society, and being able to watch as their paths slowly but surely collide. Somehow the political intrigue aspect was more fascinating to me than the actual conflict aspect, but that may just be a personal preference. I’m hopeful for this series and hope that the next one devotes more time to character development now that the world is established.
kristinaxabc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
scarletlane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
residual_sizzle's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 Rounded up.
While I felt neutral toward this book, I felt that it was too long for where the story went. It took me over a month and a half to get through it. And while I did pick it up and read it regularly, and didn’t dread continuing it, it wasn’t holding my attention well enough to want to read it over other things.
While I thought the idea of using soul magic to power the realm was a very interesting form of magic system, the other aspects of this book fell a little flat. I didn’t really care much about the main character or what she did and found the side characters to be more interesting than her. (Specifically, Tatterlain and Yali). In the beginning, as with a lot of high fantasy (granted), the world building was a bit confusing in my opinion and not very clear. I did like the different perspectives back and forth between the Castellan and Kat to give a dual perspective to the revolution.
I thought this book was fine, but its not one that I am going to think about much later, and I am not sure if it’s a series I would like to continue. It was okay. I think investing almost 600 pages of reading to feel not a lot was disappointing.
While I felt neutral toward this book, I felt that it was too long for where the story went. It took me over a month and a half to get through it. And while I did pick it up and read it regularly, and didn’t dread continuing it, it wasn’t holding my attention well enough to want to read it over other things.
While I thought the idea of using soul magic to power the realm was a very interesting form of magic system, the other aspects of this book fell a little flat. I didn’t really care much about the main character or what she did and found the side characters to be more interesting than her. (Specifically, Tatterlain and Yali). In the beginning, as with a lot of high fantasy (granted), the world building was a bit confusing in my opinion and not very clear. I did like the different perspectives back and forth between the Castellan and Kat to give a dual perspective to the revolution.
I thought this book was fine, but its not one that I am going to think about much later, and I am not sure if it’s a series I would like to continue. It was okay. I think investing almost 600 pages of reading to feel not a lot was disappointing.