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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
For personal reasons, I will not continue reading this book.
Wow, I absolutely loved this book. From the beginning, I was hooked. The magic system was so unique and interesting. The characters were all really compelling and likable. The real world references were super well done. I loved everything about this book. Zero complaints. Excellent.
3,5 stars
This book had a lot of promise from the get go but I feel like 1 book just doesn’t do this world and story justice to be honest.
The author’s writing was strong, with a bit of humor as well, and an easy one to lose myself in.
I feel like this book only scratches the surface of what’s possible so I really wish there was a series instead of this being a standalone but ah well… the characters were fun to read about, the shade pacting with the animals was a really interesting addition and there’s lots of politics and action as well in this quite diverse world. There’s a bit of romance too, but not too much, so the author really makes this a story for everyone.
If the synopsis looks good to you I’d definitely recommend giving this a go. I’d definitely pick up another/a new book by this author in the future!
This book had a lot of promise from the get go but I feel like 1 book just doesn’t do this world and story justice to be honest.
The author’s writing was strong, with a bit of humor as well, and an easy one to lose myself in.
I feel like this book only scratches the surface of what’s possible so I really wish there was a series instead of this being a standalone but ah well… the characters were fun to read about, the shade pacting with the animals was a really interesting addition and there’s lots of politics and action as well in this quite diverse world. There’s a bit of romance too, but not too much, so the author really makes this a story for everyone.
If the synopsis looks good to you I’d definitely recommend giving this a go. I’d definitely pick up another/a new book by this author in the future!
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I feel bad giving this book a 3 star. On face, it should have been a complete hit out of the park for me: political intrigue with an almost anime fantasy setting? I thought for sure it would be a favourite. Unfortunately, it just missed something for me and I didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to feel. That said, it is well written and I have no doubt it would be a perfect read for others. The world building was great, and it was also refreshing to read a setting outside of the usual fantasy. I think it’s an easy 4-5 star book, it just wasn’t for me this time.
EDIT: It has been brought to my attention recently post-review the author is a creep. While I enjoyed the book, it does not excuse his behavior and his treatment regarding women. I will, however, choose not to read/purchase any of his books following.
I need you to read this book. I need you to enjoy this inclusive, kick-ass book that is a mesh of various animes. I need you to give this book praise because it deserves it in spades.
Okay. Imagine if you took Pokemon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Lupin the III, Full Metal Alchemist, then a healthy dose of transgender, gay, and straight relationships... you get this beautiful book.
You get various perspectives, all coming together for the same goal: unity in a war forged world. The war is over, however, it could be brewing again depending on which way the pendulum swings.
I can't see how book two is going to go but I want more of this world. I want more of this world where a girl dresses in suits with fedoras; where princes wear glasses and are a straight-shot; where people soul-bond with animals and fight battles with them.
Reading the 'acknowledgement' at the end, and seeing that the author thanked Toonami or gave a shout out for Toonami, yessss. He knows what's up. I hope to see this turned into a tv show or a movie one day.
I need you to read this book. I need you to enjoy this inclusive, kick-ass book that is a mesh of various animes. I need you to give this book praise because it deserves it in spades.
Okay. Imagine if you took Pokemon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Lupin the III, Full Metal Alchemist, then a healthy dose of transgender, gay, and straight relationships... you get this beautiful book.
You get various perspectives, all coming together for the same goal: unity in a war forged world. The war is over, however, it could be brewing again depending on which way the pendulum swings.
I can't see how book two is going to go but I want more of this world. I want more of this world where a girl dresses in suits with fedoras; where princes wear glasses and are a straight-shot; where people soul-bond with animals and fight battles with them.
Reading the 'acknowledgement' at the end, and seeing that the author thanked Toonami or gave a shout out for Toonami, yessss. He knows what's up. I hope to see this turned into a tv show or a movie one day.
adventurous
emotional
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
I really loved the relationships between these characters. The character development and world building was really great. I felt like I watched them all grow as the story progressed, which feels like a really rare find for me. I appreciated the way the author incorporated LGBT characters while not making it feel contrived. Having such a complete and self contained story was great but I would totally read a sequel as well.
I picked this up on a whim because Erin Morganstern liked it and I'd just finished reading Starless Sea (which I adored). I went in not knowing much of anything about it and really wanted to love it. I knew I was in for a bad time on the first page. I hate it when authors get frisky with a thesaurus. You can tell they aren't using their fancy words with confidence, and it makes me grind my teeth.
What I liked:
About of a third of the way in, it finally started chugging along. I guess that's a good thing?
The animal friends didn't talk. They were able to communicate, but they didn't magically gain the power of speech, and I thought that was a respectable choice.
What I hated:
Characters kept telling other characters that they talked too much. If you know it's a problem, why would you do, Dear Author? It's not cute.
The whole book was unnecessarily wordy.
By the end I was like, did I just read a road trip story? What was it even about?
Character growth felt forced. Relationships felt forced.
I didn't like any of the characters except maybe Jimuro.
No build up to big moments. There was one point a few chapters in when this guy shows up with abilities that are supposed to be impossible, but you don't know that yet because it's the beginning of the freaking book and yet I could feel the characters turning to me like 'Duhn, duhn, DUHHHHHNNNN! Gasp! Shock! Can you BELIEVE IT?!' and I'm like, 'What? Is that a big deal? Should he not be able to do that? Oh. Hmm. Wow.' To make it worse, almost immediately after that, one of the main characters also has this same impossible ability...with NO build up. And this wasn't the only time that happened.
One of the main characters was all over the place as to who she was. Her choice of clothes, hair style, actions - all clashed for a fair amount the book I wasn't sure who she was supposed to be.
Another main character was probably the author's favorite because she was a blatant thesaurus abuser. Within minutes of her appearing in the book the first time she said, 'I would dispute your observation.' in casual conversation. At that point I was sure I was going to bail. Other characters call her on this stupidity SEVERAL times. If she were a total weirdo, I'd understand. If ineptitude was part of her character, I would grimace and say 'okay'. There doesn't seem to be a purpose for it other than I think the author thought it would make her endearing. It didn't.
The whole book felt like a game of 'guess what thing I'm totally ripping off but pretending is an homage'. The Tomodanese were Japanese (and all of the other races followed suit with name changes), one of the main character's favorite book series was Sherlock Holmes (renamed something I don't remember), the animal pacting thing was Pokemon. What I wanted was an original world with original characters, but instead I got Road Trip with Nerdy Girl, Thief with a Heart of Gold, Strong Independent Woman, Powerful Yet Sweet Guy.
There's more, but just writing this is making me sad. This was the author's baby, and he tried to make a great book. I hope this is his debut, and he learned a lot from it. I wanted to quit after ten pages, but I forced myself to read to fifty and then I think I hate read the rest of it. I shouldn't have done that, so that's on me. I'm sure most people will be able to ignore the bad and enjoy the creativity and what not, and I hope they do.
What I liked:
About of a third of the way in, it finally started chugging along. I guess that's a good thing?
The animal friends didn't talk. They were able to communicate, but they didn't magically gain the power of speech, and I thought that was a respectable choice.
What I hated:
Characters kept telling other characters that they talked too much. If you know it's a problem, why would you do, Dear Author? It's not cute.
The whole book was unnecessarily wordy.
By the end I was like, did I just read a road trip story? What was it even about?
Character growth felt forced. Relationships felt forced.
I didn't like any of the characters except maybe Jimuro.
No build up to big moments. There was one point a few chapters in when this guy shows up with abilities that are supposed to be impossible, but you don't know that yet because it's the beginning of the freaking book and yet I could feel the characters turning to me like 'Duhn, duhn, DUHHHHHNNNN! Gasp! Shock! Can you BELIEVE IT?!' and I'm like, 'What? Is that a big deal? Should he not be able to do that? Oh. Hmm. Wow.' To make it worse, almost immediately after that, one of the main characters also has this same impossible ability...with NO build up. And this wasn't the only time that happened.
One of the main characters was all over the place as to who she was. Her choice of clothes, hair style, actions - all clashed for a fair amount the book I wasn't sure who she was supposed to be.
Another main character was probably the author's favorite because she was a blatant thesaurus abuser. Within minutes of her appearing in the book the first time she said, 'I would dispute your observation.' in casual conversation. At that point I was sure I was going to bail. Other characters call her on this stupidity SEVERAL times. If she were a total weirdo, I'd understand. If ineptitude was part of her character, I would grimace and say 'okay'. There doesn't seem to be a purpose for it other than I think the author thought it would make her endearing. It didn't.
The whole book felt like a game of 'guess what thing I'm totally ripping off but pretending is an homage'. The Tomodanese were Japanese (and all of the other races followed suit with name changes), one of the main character's favorite book series was Sherlock Holmes (renamed something I don't remember), the animal pacting thing was Pokemon. What I wanted was an original world with original characters, but instead I got Road Trip with Nerdy Girl, Thief with a Heart of Gold, Strong Independent Woman, Powerful Yet Sweet Guy.
There's more, but just writing this is making me sad. This was the author's baby, and he tried to make a great book. I hope this is his debut, and he learned a lot from it. I wanted to quit after ten pages, but I forced myself to read to fifty and then I think I hate read the rest of it. I shouldn't have done that, so that's on me. I'm sure most people will be able to ignore the bad and enjoy the creativity and what not, and I hope they do.
The word "Saga" is helpfully right there in the title - this is 100% a third world fantasy saga with appropriately complex political structure which occasionally had me going "wait.. what? who?" This did not at all detract from this fantastic thrill-ride of a novel, which has a collection of wonderfully lovely characters that you grow enormously fond of.