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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
sad
tense
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:
No
3.75⭐️ Listen, I love me some John Gwynne books. He’s one of the bests at writing enticing high-fantasy! That said — this one fell really flat for me for the first 400ish pages. I really tried but just could not get into it until much later in the book. There’s just so many characters and POVs and places, all of which seem to be very similar, creating a lot of confusion. And I get it, John Gwynne is building the foundation for a whole series — not just one book, so I understand the importance of the info dumps… but the beginning was just soooo much! However, once the story (finally) hit its stride, I was all in and read 200+ pages in one sitting. I’ll definitely be moving onto the next book but before that, probably going to need a quick easy read filler to disassociate.
It's one of my now favorite books. John Gwynne is a master storyteller and world builder. The way he tells this tale is almost divine
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Slow start. The author takes his time with character development and world building. There is no attempt to hide the villain arc for one character. Several POVs, mostly boys or young men. Sometimes we get the sister. Don't expect diversity in the characters. Two of the POV characters have to deal with bullies, which gets repetitive. Despite some flaws, it's a good read for fans of epic fantasy that doesn't stray too far from the normal tropes. I appreciated that the villains have believable motivations other than just "bring evil to the world". Great character work.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had a hard time getting into this book. Maybe it was listening on audio, but I had a hard time keeping everyone straight so some of the plot lines were hard to follow. I did really attach to Corban and Veradis’ plot lines so there’s a chance I’ll read book 2, but I’m not falling over to get to it. In the last hour of the 24 hour audiobook, it got good, but it was 23 hours of mid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, War
Minor: Ableism, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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:
No