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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Gorgeous, satisfying magic book of a young woman’s power to transform the world.
Trauma warning! The main character is so abused, by society and those who are supposed to love her. She sets out on a mission to destroy the monarchy and ends up falling in love with the princess, mastering her terrifying bloody power, befriending the to be king, and changing the world for the better.
Love how gay this is! Certainly recommend
Trauma warning! The main character is so abused, by society and those who are supposed to love her. She sets out on a mission to destroy the monarchy and ends up falling in love with the princess, mastering her terrifying bloody power, befriending the to be king, and changing the world for the better.
Love how gay this is! Certainly recommend
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
can't even form a review because i'm about to cry. this is the fantasy book i've always wanted, an amazing portrayal of trauma and healing and found families. this book is so special, please read it
3/5 stars. I had really really high hopes for this book tbh I was really looking forward to it and, I'm gonna be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I do love a good enemies to lovers trope and this book did do a decent job on that. However, for the fact that the characters were supposed to be like 18 ish, and had gone through a lot of hardships in life, they felt way younger than that and that kind of took me out of the story. The first like half of the book was like 3/5, I was kinda bored, then the next 2/3 was pretty good like 3.5/5 or 4/5, but the ending was not very good. **Spoilers ahead** I'm gonna be honest, Ranka should have died. It didn't really make sense for her not to and it would have been a way better ending if she had considering thats what like the entire book was working up too. I do enjoy a happy ending but it could have been a good, satisfying ending if she had died. Also the "twist" of the dude guard guy being the leader of the hands was really obvious. I am not one to try and guess ahead since I like to try and be surprised but even I saw that one coming from a mile away when they couldn't find his body for like 10 chapters. Overall, it was a decent read albeit decently long for the story. I would definitely have enjoyed more of the politics of the witches and humans etc from another pov, I think that would have added to the story a lot. I did enjoy the gay enemies to lovers too as I don't see that a lot.
When I came to look at other people's reviews of this book I was surprised by the number of them discussing racism. I have to be honest, at no point while reading this did any racism alarms go off in my mind.
I liked Ranka, I thought she was a strong lead - and Galen, Aramis, and Percy were all fleshed out. Honestly I want a Galen/Percy book because Percy was my favorite. I liked that Galen and Aramis were just teenagers doing the best they could in their given situation. I loved that Galen was soft and kind and Aramis was intelligent and sharp. I like that the book tells us that the twins are on the right side before Ranka knows it, even though Ranka has told us the twins are the enemy. I also liked that even though Ranka is supposed to be this somewhat powerful witch she kind of gets her ass handed to her frequently - reminding us she is just a kid.
The three stars for me is because this is a highly political book and those just aren't my style. However, I do think the politics were well written and woven into the world and Ranka's story. As frustrated as I was with Ranka for (1) turning on the twins, (2) not accepting Ogrum's betrayal faster, and (3) continually thinking about how much she loves Ogrum as a mother figure, I could feel the heartbreak while reading - especially when Ranka said she was groomed for killing people/betraying her new friends, and how much that hurt. I know that my frustration is because I have never dealt with the cruel version of 'love' that Ogrum gave Ranka, and I don't know what that kind of abuse is like. Reading about it was emotional and I think Mix did a good job of telling and showing how a survivor of that abuse might think and behave.
The plague plotline was interesting and I didn't expect either of the betrayals. I really wish the romance was more compelling but the plot was fairly well-paced. I was a little bit bored with the first 1/3, but I got more into it once the plague plotline really picked up.
I liked Ranka, I thought she was a strong lead - and Galen, Aramis, and Percy were all fleshed out. Honestly I want a Galen/Percy book because Percy was my favorite. I liked that Galen and Aramis were just teenagers doing the best they could in their given situation. I loved that Galen was soft and kind and Aramis was intelligent and sharp. I like that the book tells us that the twins are on the right side before Ranka knows it, even though Ranka has told us the twins are the enemy. I also liked that even though Ranka is supposed to be this somewhat powerful witch she kind of gets her ass handed to her frequently - reminding us she is just a kid.
The three stars for me is because this is a highly political book and those just aren't my style. However, I do think the politics were well written and woven into the world and Ranka's story. As frustrated as I was with Ranka for (1) turning on the twins, (2) not accepting Ogrum's betrayal faster, and (3) continually thinking about how much she loves Ogrum as a mother figure, I could feel the heartbreak while reading - especially when Ranka said she was groomed for killing people/betraying her new friends, and how much that hurt. I know that my frustration is because I have never dealt with the cruel version of 'love' that Ogrum gave Ranka, and I don't know what that kind of abuse is like. Reading about it was emotional and I think Mix did a good job of telling and showing how a survivor of that abuse might think and behave.
The plague plotline was interesting and I didn't expect either of the betrayals. I really wish the romance was more compelling but the plot was fairly well-paced. I was a little bit bored with the first 1/3, but I got more into it once the plague plotline really picked up.
It’s too bad because I like the cover art on this one. Maybe someday I’ll find a book that has a pretty cover AND a good plot.
Anyways I probably should have realized that the ATLA cabbage man reference like 20 pages in was a red flag, lol
Anyways I probably should have realized that the ATLA cabbage man reference like 20 pages in was a red flag, lol
