“I never thought someone like you could exist.” He watched me with a half smile on his face. “A girl from a tiny village many explorers have never even heard of, with greater skill than most of them will ever possess.”

Super special heroine... ✓
Love triangle... ✓
Hot dude #1 is lifelong best friend... ✓
Hot dude #2 is an obnoxious newcomer... ✓
Virtually nothing happens for 75% of the book... ✓

The only reason I am not giving this one star is because the setting is so excellent. The author's world-building is undeniably strong and I have never read about a fantasy version of the Himalayas with a culture based on that of Nepalese people. I want to rate it higher based on that premise alone.

Unfortunately, though, nothing else impressed me. The characters were stock and forgettable, and I seem to often have a problem with journey books when the plot in its entirety consists of a bunch of people moving from one location to another. It is especially dull in cases like this when the narrator (and, therefore, the reader) is not told why they are going or what they are looking for. It leaves me asking the question: why should I care?

The strong sense of place cannot hold this book up on its own. It's a painfully-boring slow trek through the Himalayan wilderness as Kamzin develops feelings for the mysterious River Shara, whilst also trying not to hurt her best friend and ex - Tem. All we know is that River has been sent on an expedition by the Emperor to find something and he needs Kamzin to lead him there. By "there", I mean through the perilous Mount Raksha.

There's too much conversation and journeying and not enough action. If you are a huge fan of mountaineering and think a mountain expedition sounds like an exciting story, then you might have more luck with this. But without more exciting characters, or just some tension or drama in general, I found it very hard to persevere. There was once in the whole book when my interest stirred - I made a note of it! - and that was at 75%, and it unfortunately didn't mark a turning point. The brief excitement quickly died down again.

I thought there was a lot of missed potential, to be honest. In the early chapters, we hear about witches and mountain spirits - I was really intrigued by the bird-human monsters - but for the vast majority of the book, these are just stories and very little is done with them. The witches, especially, are notably absent

Spoiler

with the obvious exception

, though theories about them pop up in many conversations.

Ultimately, I just think neither the story nor the characters are particularly interesting. I applaud the author for heading into new territory, but this journey did nothing for me.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube