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ashlightgrayson's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This story feels like an Anastasia retelling within a fantasy world. Princess Anastacya Mikhailov is on the run as she has been framed for her father's murder. The story has a pretty fast pace as we start off with her going in disguise to a prison. She is there to question Ramson, a convicted criminal who may have information about the potential culprit of her father's murder. To say that Ramson and Ana don't like each other is an understatement. However, they end up having to work together to escape the prison and make a deal that is mutually beneficial for them. The beginning of their relationship like this gave an easy way to kickstart the plot. You are given the information you need to understand what's going on and left to learn the rest as you go along with the story. I sometimes appreciate this form of storytelling more than having an info-dump, especially in young adult fiction. However, that is just up to preference.
There are different kinds of magic in this world called Affinities and those who have these abilities are often trafficked illegally for profit. This aspect of the world is supposed to be analogous to human trafficking in China according to the author (the author is Chinese). Her familiarity with the topic shows through the world-building. I felt like it was reasonably well done.
The main weakness I found in the story was Ana's character development. Her worldview often felt naive and sheltered. She has had a very privileged life and has not been exposed to the corruption present in the empire, but I feel that for her age she should be more self-aware of the political system her family was overseeing. There are women in positions of political power in the story, so her lack of access to this information secondary to her gender isn't really at play here. Her awareness of human trafficking within the empire also makes it harder for me to believe that she is surprised by other forms of corruption within the empire. This wasn't a detail terrible enough to ruin the story for me, but it did suspend my disbelief a bit.
Overall, I feel like this story has a lot of potential to be developed more in the second book. I'm looking forward to seeing the relationship between Ransom and Ana change as their priorities have changed after this first book.
There are different kinds of magic in this world called Affinities and those who have these abilities are often trafficked illegally for profit. This aspect of the world is supposed to be analogous to human trafficking in China according to the author (the author is Chinese). Her familiarity with the topic shows through the world-building. I felt like it was reasonably well done.
The main weakness I found in the story was Ana's character development. Her worldview often felt naive and sheltered. She has had a very privileged life and has not been exposed to the corruption present in the empire, but I feel that for her age she should be more self-aware of the political system her family was overseeing. There are women in positions of political power in the story, so her lack of access to this information secondary to her gender isn't really at play here. Her awareness of human trafficking within the empire also makes it harder for me to believe that she is surprised by other forms of corruption within the empire. This wasn't a detail terrible enough to ruin the story for me, but it did suspend my disbelief a bit.
Overall, I feel like this story has a lot of potential to be developed more in the second book. I'm looking forward to seeing the relationship between Ransom and Ana change as their priorities have changed after this first book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Child abuse, Torture, Murder, Genocide, and Child death
Minor: Sexual violence
alizam's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
This is a pretty damn good Anastasia reimagining. It's like the Grisha trilogy, if the Grisha trilogy was... er... good. (sorry, Grisha fans, I did love Six of Crows, if that makes you feel better.) Goes a bit too fast in places, and the names of certain worldbuilt things, places, and animals are... amusingly mediocre. I mean, the revolution is literally called "redcloaks", come on.
It has the Impossibly Young Murderer trope in it, which is annoying, but I pretty much expect it at this point. I didn't care for Ramson because he reminded me of Kaz Brekker, but like,,, less interesting.
It has the Impossibly Young Murderer trope in it, which is annoying, but I pretty much expect it at this point. I didn't care for Ramson because he reminded me of Kaz Brekker, but like,,, less interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Trafficking and Torture
literarycavy's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Trafficking, Torture, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent
ashlyluvsyellow's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I think some may enjoy it but I couldn't connect with the characters so I struggled with that. By the end I did not want to pick up the second book at all.
The backstories were too bland and to be honest I felt like they were bad at doing what they were supposed to do. Making rash decisions. Some of the things the author chose to do were also very predictable.
The backstories were too bland and to be honest I felt like they were bad at doing what they were supposed to do. Making rash decisions. Some of the things the author chose to do were also very predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Slavery
ladymab's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had a lot of fun reading the book and definitely spent a good portion of it going "NOW KISS" at Ana and Ramson and quite literally rolling around on my bed at the plot twists and turns. Because I was reading it on my phone, it was harder to judge the length of the book, and it definitely felt like it could have ended at three separate points before it actually did end -- and then I looked back and went "wait all of that happened in 450 pages?!" So I'm incredibly curious to see how the plot points work their way out in book 2 and 3 (and how that tension will ramp versus ways that it could have played out with various endings in book 1). The pacing, in the end, kind of made it difficult to really get into the ending as I kept checking how much I had left going "I still have HOW MANY pages left and ALL OF THIS ALREADY HAPPENED????"
I enjoyed the setting and I'm interested in seeing it expand, and especially how it will reshapegiven the implication of a rebellion and the end to the monarchy. Curious to know how the monarchy affects the empire , and if we'll get history of the empire itself in future books.
I enjoyed the setting and I'm interested in seeing it expand, and especially how it will reshape
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
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