“Rushing ruins the bread.”

What this was so good! I can’t believe it’s not more popular in fantasy circles/booktube/etc. Great writing, character building, and wow what a fleshed out world! I would’ve loved to spend more time with Maia. I loved him & appreciated that he wasn’t an imbecile, though we really see him grow throughout this book. In a lot of books that have similar trajectories, the main characters are extremely naive, so it was nice to read about someone who was capable but still had a lot to learn. I didn’t want this to end!

The only reason this wasn’t a 5 star was because there were a lot of times that it felt like there must have been a book before. We were dropped in and just kind of expected to understand customs, families, etc. A couple of maps would have immensely helped as well.

But I LOVED this and am so glad I finally read it!!!

March 2024