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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I love this book, the characters, the story, and the world-building! It's gory, brutal, honest, and I highly advise you to mind the trigger warnings because this standalone book deals with some really heavy topics. I know that there are some concerns that this book is laced with racism but as far as my research went the ones claiming this never read a single page of this story. Skin colours are mentioned (some of the main characters are POC) but the colour of the skin does not determine the status of the characters or leads to any kind of discrimination. It's rather the actions and beliefs of the characters that are important here. So give this book a chance, if you mind the triggers first if you have any. I don't think you'll regret it if you like magic, witches, politics, stories of manipulation, LGBTQAI+ characters, bad choices, a tired main character,... I could go on but I don't want to spoil it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
i really really liked aramis and ranka and well, actually i liked all of the main characters and i thought the story was really good
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
You could easily swap the ages for older ones and this would be an adult book. This is an interesting mix of slow to read but rewarding to make it to the end. At first I didn’t think this book was for me and that was why it was slow going but by the end I actually loved this book and the depth of the subject matter.
You get scary witch zombies, queer representation, 5 feet smart and tough Aramis (could do with her height not being described as “measly” at one point though!), standing up for what is right even when it’s hard, and of course surviving mental abuse including brief descriptions of therapy.
A darker fantasy used to describe and overcome a true dark situation leaving me applauding, cheering on and thinking about those that have actually overcome so much.
You get scary witch zombies, queer representation, 5 feet smart and tough Aramis (could do with her height not being described as “measly” at one point though!), standing up for what is right even when it’s hard, and of course surviving mental abuse including brief descriptions of therapy.
A darker fantasy used to describe and overcome a true dark situation leaving me applauding, cheering on and thinking about those that have actually overcome so much.
2.5
Overall, this book was just okay. I enjoyed it alright enough, and it kept me decently entertained for the most part. The main cast of characters all felt unique and had their own tone. They made an interesting group and had a great dynamic. I liked Ranka a lot as a main character. She was pretty well written. Aramis was also well written, and I enjoyed learning more about her as the story went on. This book had more world building than I expected, which was great. I liked the overall vibes, and the dialogue was decent.
There were a number of things though that fell kind of flat or felt unfinished.
For some reason, I just couldn't buy into the fact that Galen and Amaris are royalty. There isn't an established court, and things don't run as you'd expect from a typical royalty story. They constantly are sneaking out and doing what they want. If the king and queen died young, wouldn't there be a lot of guards to keep an eye on them? Around the 60% mark, it's mentioned that the place is heavily guarded. So they do have a huge staff, but no one ever notices their 2 remaining royals are constantly missing?
This leads me to my next point. Since there's no established court system, no advisors, no strategists, etc, who exactly is enforcing rules/traditions? It's a big plot point that Aramis can't be next in line due to her not being magical, but who exactly can enforce that at this point, since all of the other royals are dead? They spend so long complaining about how Galen has to be king and that Aramis wants to rule, but they never just change the rules themselves. At the very end, there's suddenly a council, but it never appears in a useful way earlier in the story. Suddenly, Galen has the idea at the end to give the throne to Aramis. What was stopping him the entire book to not do that earlier?
There was also a line that confused me. The author says Galen was getting information held from him about the destruction of his kingdom, but then later on they mention how they've been waiting for the moment where Galen stands up and takes responsibility as king. How was he supposed to do that if he's getting information about his land kept from him?
There was also a part where it was mentioned that The Hands would torture and kill Foldrey for info if he was captured and that they wouldn't ransom him. Why wouldn't they? He's the step in father figure to the prince and princess, as well as the head guard. That line of thinking just made no sense. It felt like a very heavy-handed way of trying to convince the audience that Foldrey was dead.
The entire scene where Foldrey supposedly dies was very weird. All it did was make Aramis and Galen look really stupid. Them sneaking out, seeing him with The Hands, and then insisting that they go unnecessarily into danger was strange.
The whole "Percy helped create winalin" storyline was so undeveloped, I forgot that was even a thing until it got mentioned offhand again at around page 250. It didn't really add anything to the story. It felt unnecessary and just made his story seem unfinished.
It said The Hands found science heretical, but that was after they were shown in their lab injecting witches with a winalin strain. Apparently, they're anti science and anti witch, so what do they even believe in? Also, it made no sense that the witches would align with The Hands and destroy the cure to the disease that kills witches. The witch leaders just being "power hungry" for potential blood witches just seemed so thrown in and unrealistic. They had zero proof that it actually worked, and everything they did see was that it killed them.
Ranka sees the vaccine could work. She knows winalin kills witches. And yet she destroys the vaccine after 1 conversation with her parental figure? Yeva, her best friend, died of the disease, and Ranka just destroys the vaccine so quickly?
Foldrey being evil felt off. Why wouldn't Ranka connect that he's involved after he eluded to her that he is? Ranka mentioned that Foldrey knew the entire time that The Hands were creating winalin. There was no reason for him to keep that to himself if he wasn't evil, and she should've connected the dots sooner. If he was watching the witch burning with The Hands undesguised, wouldn't the twins have made the connection that they let him in because they knew him? Why would he choose his "last words" to be so kind to Galen when he could've unnerved him, making him want to leave the kingdom (like he says later that he wants to ship them away)?
Either way, I didn't hate this book. I felt it just had a lot of technical issues. Ranka and Aramis were very cute, though, 10/10 for them.
Overall, this book was just okay. I enjoyed it alright enough, and it kept me decently entertained for the most part. The main cast of characters all felt unique and had their own tone. They made an interesting group and had a great dynamic. I liked Ranka a lot as a main character. She was pretty well written. Aramis was also well written, and I enjoyed learning more about her as the story went on. This book had more world building than I expected, which was great. I liked the overall vibes, and the dialogue was decent.
There were a number of things though that fell kind of flat or felt unfinished.
For some reason, I just couldn't buy into the fact that Galen and Amaris are royalty. There isn't an established court, and things don't run as you'd expect from a typical royalty story. They constantly are sneaking out and doing what they want. If the king and queen died young, wouldn't there be a lot of guards to keep an eye on them? Around the 60% mark, it's mentioned that the place is heavily guarded. So they do have a huge staff, but no one ever notices their 2 remaining royals are constantly missing?
This leads me to my next point. Since there's no established court system, no advisors, no strategists, etc, who exactly is enforcing rules/traditions? It's a big plot point that Aramis can't be next in line due to her not being magical, but who exactly can enforce that at this point, since all of the other royals are dead? They spend so long complaining about how Galen has to be king and that Aramis wants to rule, but they never just change the rules themselves. At the very end, there's suddenly a council, but it never appears in a useful way earlier in the story. Suddenly, Galen has the idea at the end to give the throne to Aramis. What was stopping him the entire book to not do that earlier?
There was also a line that confused me. The author says Galen was getting information held from him about the destruction of his kingdom, but then later on they mention how they've been waiting for the moment where Galen stands up and takes responsibility as king. How was he supposed to do that if he's getting information about his land kept from him?
There was also a part where it was mentioned that The Hands would torture and kill Foldrey for info if he was captured and that they wouldn't ransom him. Why wouldn't they? He's the step in father figure to the prince and princess, as well as the head guard. That line of thinking just made no sense. It felt like a very heavy-handed way of trying to convince the audience that Foldrey was dead.
The entire scene where Foldrey supposedly dies was very weird. All it did was make Aramis and Galen look really stupid. Them sneaking out, seeing him with The Hands, and then insisting that they go unnecessarily into danger was strange.
The whole "Percy helped create winalin" storyline was so undeveloped, I forgot that was even a thing until it got mentioned offhand again at around page 250. It didn't really add anything to the story. It felt unnecessary and just made his story seem unfinished.
It said The Hands found science heretical, but that was after they were shown in their lab injecting witches with a winalin strain. Apparently, they're anti science and anti witch, so what do they even believe in? Also, it made no sense that the witches would align with The Hands and destroy the cure to the disease that kills witches. The witch leaders just being "power hungry" for potential blood witches just seemed so thrown in and unrealistic. They had zero proof that it actually worked, and everything they did see was that it killed them.
Ranka sees the vaccine could work. She knows winalin kills witches. And yet she destroys the vaccine after 1 conversation with her parental figure? Yeva, her best friend, died of the disease, and Ranka just destroys the vaccine so quickly?
Foldrey being evil felt off. Why wouldn't Ranka connect that he's involved after he eluded to her that he is? Ranka mentioned that Foldrey knew the entire time that The Hands were creating winalin. There was no reason for him to keep that to himself if he wasn't evil, and she should've connected the dots sooner. If he was watching the witch burning with The Hands undesguised, wouldn't the twins have made the connection that they let him in because they knew him? Why would he choose his "last words" to be so kind to Galen when he could've unnerved him, making him want to leave the kingdom (like he says later that he wants to ship them away)?
Either way, I didn't hate this book. I felt it just had a lot of technical issues. Ranka and Aramis were very cute, though, 10/10 for them.
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-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
Two twin books in a row! And this time they’re gay!
13 year old me needed and would have loved this book, but I’m still glad I got to read it at 25. A fast paced YA with fun characters (that are sometimes a little on the nose) and interesting twists (though a bit predictable). It was enjoyable to dive into a book with the same joy and love I would have in my childhood bedroom.