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alyb_batgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death
mallorypen's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
2.75
I wanted sooooo much more from this novel. The worldbuilding has the potential to be interesting, but pretty much from the word go, everything was just a little flat. Reincarnation, necromancy, plots against the heir by the king, powerful religious turmoil? It all sounds exciting, so why did I keep having to speed up the audiobook to get through it?
With a few exceptions, I mostly didn’t care about the three leads. Lore was whiny (maybe the narrator’s fault) and dramatic; Gabe was predictable; and Bastian swung hot and cold between boring and interesting.
The plot would have been 10x more interesting if the author didn’t belabor every point with extraneous detail. The language drifted in and out of purple prose, and the “like so much xxxx” phrase was horribly overused.
There were some interesting elements - the use of poison to keep people alive longer; the dead goddess still leaking power from her tomb; pseudo-zombie monks … but the plot just didn’t quite hit for me. I won’t be reading the sequels, and I just didn’t care about the predictable and tired love triangle.
With a few exceptions, I mostly didn’t care about the three leads. Lore was whiny (maybe the narrator’s fault) and dramatic; Gabe was predictable; and Bastian swung hot and cold between boring and interesting.
The plot would have been 10x more interesting if the author didn’t belabor every point with extraneous detail. The language drifted in and out of purple prose, and the “like so much xxxx” phrase was horribly overused.
There were some interesting elements - the use of poison to keep people alive longer; the dead goddess still leaking power from her tomb; pseudo-zombie monks … but the plot just didn’t quite hit for me. I won’t be reading the sequels, and I just didn’t care about the predictable and tired love triangle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
dani_reis's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death
The animal death is one event very early on. With the story being about necromancy, you can anticipate how that goes. There is multiple mentions of the animal throughout.lbelow's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is such a fantastic book, rife with political intrigue, complicated villains, twists, and morally gray characters. The necromancy feels like a fresh take while staying true to key tropes. The slow burn romance intermixed with questions of loyalty and betrayal keep me glued along the way as the twisty plot unfolded. I cannot wait for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Alcohol
niyou's review against another edition
I’m a big fan of the ‘impostor noble at court’ trope but chose to DNF about half way through.
The MC is a Mary Sue while the supporting characters are vehicles for the romance and plot. Wouldn’t be so bad if the chemistry was there, but it was flat as stale beer.
And then the court politics. Oh, the poor, poor, court politics.
Cool concept and magic but I just don’t enjoy this story enough to finish.
My recommendations for a story with the ‘impostor noble’ trope:
The Final Empire
Northanger Abbey (although the MC is unaware of it)
The Mask of Mirrors
Remnant population
My recs for books with good politicos:
Kushiel’s Dart
Daughter of the Empire
The MC is a Mary Sue while the supporting characters are vehicles for the romance and plot. Wouldn’t be so bad if the chemistry was there, but it was flat as stale beer.
And then the court politics. Oh, the poor, poor, court politics.
Cool concept and magic but I just don’t enjoy this story enough to finish.
My recommendations for a story with the ‘impostor noble’ trope:
The Final Empire
Northanger Abbey (although the MC is unaware of it)
The Mask of Mirrors
Remnant population
My recs for books with good politicos:
Kushiel’s Dart
Daughter of the Empire
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Child death
krisalexcole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Sexual content
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War
Minor: Addiction, Genocide, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was such an engaging and exciting read. The writing style was effortlessly propulsive, and the story was surprisingly immersive. I was almost immediately invested in the story, which is abnormal for me, and from there, I couldn’t stop turning pages.
I wish the characters had been more diverse, and there was a moment around like 2/3 of the way through when I hit a bit of a pacing snag, but other than that, this was a standout to me.
I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a dark fantasy with some angsty romance.
I wish the characters had been more diverse, and there was a moment around like 2/3 of the way through when I hit a bit of a pacing snag, but other than that, this was a standout to me.
I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a dark fantasy with some angsty romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
sarrie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Pitch a story to me with ‘necromancy’ in the description and I’m going to sign up 9 times out of 10. Like a lot of people I love the idea of magic based around the dead - one of my favorite characters I’ve made for a D&D game was a necromancer! The Foxglove King has some of that in the truest sense. The story follows Lore who can channel the power of Mortem, death magic, and raise the dead. This is definitely not on the legal side of things in her world, and when she’s captured and given a bargain - work for the king or live in exile, she obviously takes the job.
From there we get our usual Fantasy Romance setup. A magic girl, and two guys. The prince she’s supposed to be investigating for treason and the stoic guard who is assigned to follow her every step. On the whole this follows every beat you’d expect for a Fantasy Romance and I enjoyed that. Unfortunately, my first big complaint ties into this. While it followed familiar beats, it let itself get caught and really drag in the middle. The story was a bit overwritten and when Lore and her associates became trapped in the castle so were we the readers, so there is a huge slog of dry reading from 50 to 85%. We spend so so much time in the heads and conversations of the characters that it felt like we were trapped in the same three rooms and one garden for a huge chunk of time. Editing was desperately needed here, 50 to 100 pages could have been trimmed.
Past that our characters are interesting, though nothing mind blowing. My favorite character was Lore. She was not the standard ‘bad ass girl’ we typically get, but had some soft edges and quiet attributes I enjoyed. She was selfish but not brash, and held secrets (possibly for far too long) that seemed very important to have, as opposed to melodramatics. Bastian, our Sun Prince was the best built of the two male love interests, the other a dull shadow to him. My other big complaint about the story is in the villain of the piece. - SPOILERS HERE He did not need to be scarred in the face in the way he was. It’s 2023, can we not turn every person with a facial scar or disfigurement into a villain. I despised this portion of the book and I’m glad that he’s out of the picture at the end - END SPOILERS.
The ending was a hair bit on the predictable side with it’s reveals if not explosive and jaw dropping in it’s action, leaving me wanting the second book. I’m hesitant to recommend this one, without the warning that the middle is dense and the villain a terrible stereotype. However if you’re okay with that and you love Fantasy Romance I’d say give this one a read.
3 out of 5 Stone Roses
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming and Chronic illness
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and War