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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
fantasy war college tends to be a hit with me. i just like the vibes
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I forgot I was reading this š
Im giving this 2 stars but I do still plan to read book 2.
Hear me out.
Is Lyrak really the best we could come up with for the love interest/MMC? š heāll be the Tamlin of the story but worse cause I canāt stand him.
We follow our FMC, Fia, who truly has no interest in whatās happening around her and never has any clue as to what is going on; her only focus is on General Laryk. This put me off the story because if they FMC has no interest in whatās happening then why would I? Mind you, sheās been branded as a riftborne, her people razed and murdered, her friends were killed by the guard (same one she ends up joining) for no reason, and she still somehow wants to defend and fight for them? Make it make sense.
Also Fia goes from not trusting Laryk to lusting over him and being jealous; mind you this man doesnāt really show any interest in her and was possibly sleeping with another woman the entire time. Heās more interested in her power and what she can do, than in her as a person. Iām assuming he wonāt be the love interest going into the next book because if he is, then thereās no hope. They had 0 chemistry and Iām still baffled as to why Fia cares so much about him, when all their interactions lacked depth, were so flat, shallow and revolved around nothing serious.
I liked the side characters (Raine, Briar & Mercer) and the book was entertaining but overall the plot was secondary to the mediocre romance. I wished we wouldāve focused more on the characters, the magic, the training/learning process because it would have made for a great book. Also the military training doesnāt start until about the 40-50% mark which is way too late in my opinion.
For the most part, this felt like a draft and not a published book; the potential was there but everything felt flat. It was quite predictable and from certain sentences you could easily guess what was going to happen. I did like how it ended even if it was a cliffhanger, gives me hope that book 2 will take a more serious route and Fia will come to learn some hard but very fucking obvious truths that she shouldāve put together a long time ago; and hopefully we will have a new found family group of people and new love interest, looking at you Aether.
Im giving this 2 stars but I do still plan to read book 2.
Hear me out.
Is Lyrak really the best we could come up with for the love interest/MMC? š heāll be the Tamlin of the story but worse cause I canāt stand him.
We follow our FMC, Fia, who truly has no interest in whatās happening around her and never has any clue as to what is going on; her only focus is on General Laryk. This put me off the story because if they FMC has no interest in whatās happening then why would I? Mind you, sheās been branded as a riftborne, her people razed and murdered, her friends were killed by the guard (same one she ends up joining) for no reason, and she still somehow wants to defend and fight for them? Make it make sense.
Also Fia goes from not trusting Laryk to lusting over him and being jealous; mind you this man doesnāt really show any interest in her and was possibly sleeping with another woman the entire time. Heās more interested in her power and what she can do, than in her as a person. Iām assuming he wonāt be the love interest going into the next book because if he is, then thereās no hope. They had 0 chemistry and Iām still baffled as to why Fia cares so much about him, when all their interactions lacked depth, were so flat, shallow and revolved around nothing serious.
I liked the side characters (Raine, Briar & Mercer) and the book was entertaining but overall the plot was secondary to the mediocre romance. I wished we wouldāve focused more on the characters, the magic, the training/learning process because it would have made for a great book. Also the military training doesnāt start until about the 40-50% mark which is way too late in my opinion.
For the most part, this felt like a draft and not a published book; the potential was there but everything felt flat. It was quite predictable and from certain sentences you could easily guess what was going to happen. I did like how it ended even if it was a cliffhanger, gives me hope that book 2 will take a more serious route and Fia will come to learn some hard but very fucking obvious truths that she shouldāve put together a long time ago; and hopefully we will have a new found family group of people and new love interest, looking at you Aether.
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Yall i gotta stop reading books that dont have sequels š is the new style of writing books to fully immerse me into a world, make me love characters, abruptly change the story, and then violently rip the story away from me?? Lol, because it's working! The characters and the plot have so much to give! I can't wait to see where it all goes next!
I haven't read a debut fantasy book as amazing as this one in such a long time. I honestly regret how long it took for me to get to this book, so I'm encouraging you to read it now before you go on any longer without your new favourite fantasy book.
The world-building is incredible and so multi-layered and complex in a beautiful way without being hard to follow. You learn so much about the history of Sidhe and why everything is how it is, but you are also left with enough to discover that you are still waiting in anticipation for the future books. And the magic system is rich and interesting without being overwhelming, like I felt with so many fantasy books. I loved seeing everyoneās individual powers at play, and I am so excited to find out more about Fiaās after *that* cliffhanger. The plot is always thrilling; there was literally never one moment of boredom, and there were so many unexpected plot twists that had my fingers tapping rapidly to get to the next page on my phone. While the conflict is very fast-paced, it was also not rushed in the slightestājust with the perfect pacing to build tension again and again until the climax, where your jaw drops. The plot twist is excruciating, especially because Iāll have to live with my crippling curiosity until the sequel comes out, but it was so worth it.
The characters are so lovely, mainly because the found family trope in Riftborne is executed amazingly. I completely fell in love with Fia, her childhood best friend. Osta (the best friend) and Fia have a grumpy x sunshine friendship that was so fun to read about; they really were the perfect yin and yang. I swear Osta has to be protected at all costs because the emotional damage I will feel if she is killed off will be deadlyyy
The world-building is incredible and so multi-layered and complex in a beautiful way without being hard to follow. You learn so much about the history of Sidhe and why everything is how it is, but you are also left with enough to discover that you are still waiting in anticipation for the future books. And the magic system is rich and interesting without being overwhelming, like I felt with so many fantasy books. I loved seeing everyoneās individual powers at play, and I am so excited to find out more about Fiaās after *that* cliffhanger. The plot is always thrilling; there was literally never one moment of boredom, and there were so many unexpected plot twists that had my fingers tapping rapidly to get to the next page on my phone. While the conflict is very fast-paced, it was also not rushed in the slightestājust with the perfect pacing to build tension again and again until the climax, where your jaw drops. The plot twist is excruciating, especially because Iāll have to live with my crippling curiosity until the sequel comes out, but it was so worth it.
The characters are so lovely, mainly because the found family trope in Riftborne is executed amazingly. I completely fell in love with Fia, her childhood best friend. Osta (the best friend) and Fia have a grumpy x sunshine friendship that was so fun to read about; they really were the perfect yin and yang. I swear Osta has to be protected at all costs because the emotional damage I will feel if she is killed off will be deadlyyy
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Iām sorry but if you like Romantasy read this book!!! It is my favorite read of 2024 so far! I canāt say how much I loved everything about this book, the magic system, the class system, the CHARACTERS.
If you liked Powerless, Fourth Wing, or even Lightlark I think this truly could be the book for you (authors didnāt say this, itās my own opinion but the good vibes from those books are all put together in Riftborne!!!) also making a note, I read throne of glass this year. And Iām saying Riftborne is the best read of my year. So like take that as you will but this book was everything. I didnāt think I would like it during the first chapter but my god. Once it picked up I was done. I read it in one complete sitting and I donāt regret it. I only regret reading the ARC because now Iām left wanting more!! The book isnāt even released and I already want the next!
Fia is a badass and I love her. Amazing FMC in my own opinion. Also the enemies to lovers? SO GOODDDD!!! Also that ending? I had an inkling š something was up, but I did NOT see that coming with Aether! I am so excited for this book to release and hope you all read it and give it the love it most definitely deserves!
**reread the book and it was just as good as the first time, if not better because I was noticing all the details I hadn't my first read through!! Heading into Duskbound and I am SO excited to see what comes next (spoiler alert: the sequel is better!!!)
If you liked Powerless, Fourth Wing, or even Lightlark I think this truly could be the book for you (authors didnāt say this, itās my own opinion but the good vibes from those books are all put together in Riftborne!!!) also making a note, I read throne of glass this year. And Iām saying Riftborne is the best read of my year. So like take that as you will but this book was everything. I didnāt think I would like it during the first chapter but my god. Once it picked up I was done. I read it in one complete sitting and I donāt regret it. I only regret reading the ARC because now Iām left wanting more!! The book isnāt even released and I already want the next!
Fia is a badass and I love her. Amazing FMC in my own opinion. Also the enemies to lovers? SO GOODDDD!!! Also that ending? I had an inkling š something was up, but I did NOT see that coming with Aether! I am so excited for this book to release and hope you all read it and give it the love it most definitely deserves!
**reread the book and it was just as good as the first time, if not better because I was noticing all the details I hadn't my first read through!! Heading into Duskbound and I am SO excited to see what comes next (spoiler alert: the sequel is better!!!)