Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
This book left me begging for more! I can't wait for the next installment.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
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
revenge? found family? normalised queerness? yes please
I really enjoyed this! it kept me entertained and was a really good reintroduction to fantasy for me. I'll definitely be reading the next one!
This was an exciting and thrilling read. The characters will pull you in until you’re not sure what viewpoint you want to know more about. There are a variety of themes that were very intriguing and was a different way of telling the story. The action is intense and will keep you hooked from battle to battle. I strongly encourage this book. If you’d like to know more of what I thought about this book, feel free to contact me.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5
So, I am going to have a bit of trouble reviewing this book because the audio just was not enjoyable. I did find myself dozing off when trying to listen to it but after a while I decided to just read it myself.
The beginning of this book is action packed, as we see the beginnings of an invasion. This action quickly drops off as the MC escapes to live a life away from the palace to bide his time to return. Here the book time jumps as he undergoes training to be an assassin.
This should all be a stabby good time from that point on, right? Well, no. For what the synopsis promises, there is very little of that to be found in the book. However, I can't say that this book is bad, or not worth it (maybe the audio isn't) but I can say that the pacing of this book is all over the place. I found some parts super fast paced and exciting and others a bit droll.
The characters are well written and I think that is where this book's strengths lie. Our band of misfits is quite enjoyable and their abilities are fascinating.
I am looking forward to the next book but I don't think I will be picking up the audio.
So, I am going to have a bit of trouble reviewing this book because the audio just was not enjoyable. I did find myself dozing off when trying to listen to it but after a while I decided to just read it myself.
The beginning of this book is action packed, as we see the beginnings of an invasion. This action quickly drops off as the MC escapes to live a life away from the palace to bide his time to return. Here the book time jumps as he undergoes training to be an assassin.
This should all be a stabby good time from that point on, right? Well, no. For what the synopsis promises, there is very little of that to be found in the book. However, I can't say that this book is bad, or not worth it (maybe the audio isn't) but I can say that the pacing of this book is all over the place. I found some parts super fast paced and exciting and others a bit droll.
The characters are well written and I think that is where this book's strengths lie. Our band of misfits is quite enjoyable and their abilities are fascinating.
I am looking forward to the next book but I don't think I will be picking up the audio.
ARC provided by Netgalley and Orbit in exchange for an honest review.
3/5
I really wanted to love this book, and the description had a lot of things that I loved in fantasy series (revenge! magic! fights! conspiracies! cool cover!) but in the end it fell short of the mark for me.
The book started off strong, with quick world building and the ability to draw the reader into the middle of the action. I liked the setting, plot and the prose, and I specifically liked the way that the gods interacted with their world because it was a nice change of pace to see them directly involved in their people and their lives and the consequences of those actions, tangibly weaving the religion of Thanet into daily life, giving the book a unique perspective and sucked me into the plot.
My issue with this book was that the characters felt flat and one dimensional and while their goals and actions were clear (primarily revenge), we didn’t get a lot of individualised personality from them and most of their dialogue sounded the same and interchangeable between them without clear personalised voices; Cyrus was specifically very bland to me, while Mari and Stasia had a lot of potential that wasn’t utilized as well as it could have been. Additionally, there are quite a few time jumps in the first half that skips over a lot of potential growth of the characters, both individually and within their relationships to each other, and we just see the start and the end without seeing the growth itself and just have to take the author’s word on it that these relationships have been built over the years that we’ve glossed over. I did start to see more personality and growth towards the end of the book, but it took about 40 chapters to get to that point, which is a long way to go to grow past indifference.
The magic system was interesting, but more detail surrounding it and how it worked would have been nice to have.
On a whole, it was OK, just a little disappointing compared to my expectations going in. That being said, I am open to reading the next book based on the revelations that happened towards the end, because I always want to know what happens next.
3/5
I really wanted to love this book, and the description had a lot of things that I loved in fantasy series (revenge! magic! fights! conspiracies! cool cover!) but in the end it fell short of the mark for me.
The book started off strong, with quick world building and the ability to draw the reader into the middle of the action. I liked the setting, plot and the prose, and I specifically liked the way that the gods interacted with their world because it was a nice change of pace to see them directly involved in their people and their lives and the consequences of those actions, tangibly weaving the religion of Thanet into daily life, giving the book a unique perspective and sucked me into the plot.
My issue with this book was that the characters felt flat and one dimensional and while their goals and actions were clear (primarily revenge), we didn’t get a lot of individualised personality from them and most of their dialogue sounded the same and interchangeable between them without clear personalised voices; Cyrus was specifically very bland to me, while Mari and Stasia had a lot of potential that wasn’t utilized as well as it could have been. Additionally, there are quite a few time jumps in the first half that skips over a lot of potential growth of the characters, both individually and within their relationships to each other, and we just see the start and the end without seeing the growth itself and just have to take the author’s word on it that these relationships have been built over the years that we’ve glossed over. I did start to see more personality and growth towards the end of the book, but it took about 40 chapters to get to that point, which is a long way to go to grow past indifference.
The magic system was interesting, but more detail surrounding it and how it worked would have been nice to have.
On a whole, it was OK, just a little disappointing compared to my expectations going in. That being said, I am open to reading the next book based on the revelations that happened towards the end, because I always want to know what happens next.
adventurous
challenging
dark
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