Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I was really keen on the premise and title of this book but unfortunately it was not for me.
I didn't end up enjoying the writing style, I think that maybe the book was trying to say too much. There was quite a lot of P.O.Vs to the point where I was getting confused as to who was saying or doing what.
I enjoyed the magic style and the world building but felt that it was overly ambitious and it felt like things were getting lost and not touched upon when they seemed quite important.
I still am interested in the premise and think it is still a very good story I just feel that this book is not for me, I will however look into future books by the author.
I want to thank Netgalley for an early ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review
I didn't end up enjoying the writing style, I think that maybe the book was trying to say too much. There was quite a lot of P.O.Vs to the point where I was getting confused as to who was saying or doing what.
I enjoyed the magic style and the world building but felt that it was overly ambitious and it felt like things were getting lost and not touched upon when they seemed quite important.
I still am interested in the premise and think it is still a very good story I just feel that this book is not for me, I will however look into future books by the author.
I want to thank Netgalley for an early ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
This one was so hard to review, there is a lot that I really enjoyed. In particular I thought the characters were great and I wanted and still want to follow them and their stories. Many times when there are multiple povs a reader might feel a bit of disappointment when switching to another character but I never felt that with these characters. They each had their complexities and their backgrounds and storylines were so different. It was also interesting to see them intercross with each other during the course of the story. The world with its Mezoamerican influence and magic system incorporating light was not something I had seen before. It’s a really ambitious story and I do want to read the next book to see how it and these characters will progress.
Sounds great right? The problem is the scope might be a big too big. We start with so many questions that are never truly answered and in the end are left on a cliffhanger with no resolution. I understand that it’s the first book in a series but at least some resolution would feel give the reader some closure; it almost feels like the middle book in a trilogy. The other big issue for me was the pacing. We leave off at times in moments where something exciting or shocking happens and switch povs for it to pick up chapters and chapters later. Sometimes it picks off right where we left off and other times we see some time has passed. It could be incredibly frustrating at times. Then there was the introduction of completely new characters as late as a quarter into the novel. I actually feel this would make a great serialized show, graphic novel or animated series with the way it’s written.
That being said, overall I was intrigued and while it could be frustrating at times I did get attached to the characters and want to continue their story. I would recommend this to readers who are looking for something with intriguing characters and unique world building and have a bit of patience.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Sadly, this books wasn't for me.
I stopped at 20% because i wasn't enjoying myself.
The beginning is very rushed, but fails to provide enough information for me to get immersed into the world. There are some interesting ideas regarding the magic system but the author didn't explain enough of it to captivate me.
In my opinion there are too many characters, and not enough pages for each of them. At 20% I'd expect to like at least one of them, but i felt like they were all strangers and couldn't get myself to care for them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I stopped at 20% because i wasn't enjoying myself.
The beginning is very rushed, but fails to provide enough information for me to get immersed into the world. There are some interesting ideas regarding the magic system but the author didn't explain enough of it to captivate me.
In my opinion there are too many characters, and not enough pages for each of them. At 20% I'd expect to like at least one of them, but i felt like they were all strangers and couldn't get myself to care for them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
This book has a lot of words, but I don't feel like it says anything.
I knew I was in for it when it had two prologues. They weren't both called one, but structurally, there were two.
This book has too many POV characters. Or at least too many that are indistinguishable narratively. Because of that, I would forget whose chapter I was reading constantly, and I wasn't connecting to anything or anyone. It made it hard to connect to the characters and care about the plot.
It got to the point where I was more skim-reading than actually absorbing what I was reading. There is potential in this book. It just never reached the point, for me, that pulled me into the story. It was very surface-level for me.
This book has a lot of words, but I don't feel like it says anything.
I knew I was in for it when it had two prologues. They weren't both called one, but structurally, there were two.
This book has too many POV characters. Or at least too many that are indistinguishable narratively. Because of that, I would forget whose chapter I was reading constantly, and I wasn't connecting to anything or anyone. It made it hard to connect to the characters and care about the plot.
It got to the point where I was more skim-reading than actually absorbing what I was reading. There is potential in this book. It just never reached the point, for me, that pulled me into the story. It was very surface-level for me.
I wanted to like this book. The synopsis gave an epic story with interconnected characters, creatures and gods; it sounded incredible. I'm sorry to say it did not deliver. In my opinion, the writing was leaning towards amateurish and the dialogue was wooden. The world building was ambitious but vacillated between being info-dumpy and then non-informative. There is quite a lot going on in the plot, with many characters, but I just wasn't given any reason to care what happened. Like I said, I really wanted to like this but it was ultimately not for me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
This first book in The Luminocity Seed series is an epic start to an epic fantasy tale. Luminocity is a city built on ancient ruins with forgotten technologies. The surface is bathe by the light of 3 gods and beneath the surface is the shadow of a trapped dark god.
This dark and action packed fantasy follows the fate of 5 characters whose destiny is intertwined. The magic is unique and makes this story even more interesting.
From the prologue you get the sense of fantasy, sci-fi, dark, horror and action that will be throughout the whole book. I found the strong presence of these elements very gripping and intriguing. The story is told through the five different POVs, switching between them as the plot is going on. Although this took a bit of getting used to at first, once I got into this system of narration I felt like it provided me with additional suspense.
My only critique would be regarding the lack of introduction of the magic within this world. The magic is so unique and I loved it (I can’t stop thinking about it) and although you can understand it as the story is evolving, I think it would have been so much more powerful to give a clearer insight into how the magic works.
Regardless, this remains a 5 star read for me and I definitely recommend it to fans of dark, adult fantasy. The cliffhanger at the end has me waiting eagerly for book 2 in the series.
From the description, this book sounded like it would be interesting to me. I enjoy the works of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, which this book is compared to. However, I had a hard time getting into this book. While I think the magic and world building has some promise, it almost feel like the author is trying too hard to be like Sanderson in the complexity of the world, but it ends up making things muddy, confusing and hard to follow. I also find the wrting style stitled and awkward that is not enjoyable.
I will add that I haven't read a lot of Sanderson or similar stories in a while, having read more YA recently, so it is possible that I'm just out of practice reading in this style, and so this book might be enjoyable to some. The magic use does seem interesting (the idea of "lies" by one character), even if they weren't well described (I had to read the same sentence a few times to understand what was happening), and the author has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about the world in which this story is set. I also love the alligator shape of the continent map.
Thank you to NetGalley and Endless Equinoz for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I will add that I haven't read a lot of Sanderson or similar stories in a while, having read more YA recently, so it is possible that I'm just out of practice reading in this style, and so this book might be enjoyable to some. The magic use does seem interesting (the idea of "lies" by one character), even if they weren't well described (I had to read the same sentence a few times to understand what was happening), and the author has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about the world in which this story is set. I also love the alligator shape of the continent map.
Thank you to NetGalley and Endless Equinoz for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
⭐️: 4.75 / 5
Publication Date: February 1, 2024
I want to thank Endless Equinox and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The prologue leaves you with a sense of mystery surrounding the time and setting of the story giving it both a fantasy and science fiction feel to the narrative.
Some of the coolest aspects of this story, were the South American influences sprinkled in! I loved the placement of lush jungles filled with predators along with the tortillas and delicious meals described in the book. The intrigue easily is what kept me so engaged in the book that I kept needing to know what would come next. I loved the FMCs, I found their storylines to be fascinating and well developed all around. And without giving too much away once the storylines started interconnecting I found that really helped make sense of all the POVs. I found the ending to be absolutely brilliant and I look forward to finding out where these characters go next.
As for my reservations, there’s a few too many POVs. Just when you feel you’ve gotten the characters figured out a new POV will be added in. Towards the end I was also getting just a little lost in the timeline of what was happening but that might just be.
Overall I absolutely recommend this book to read. If you love fantasy with more science fiction feel to it with horror elements I absolutely recommend reading this book! For a debut author this was an absolute knock out.
Would recommend for those who are fans of
- South American inspired setting
- Multiple POV
- Intrigue
- Badass FMCs
- Interesting magic system
- Spiders
⚠️ violence, so many spiders
emotional
informative
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
This book is a great introduction to what is looking to be an intricate, intriguing world. I enjoyed the different storylines throughout the book and the character development throughout for all of these characters. the worldbuilding was great and I'm happy we were given perspectives from characters from different areas of the world and different classes as well.
I initially did struggle to keep up with all of the POV changes, it took me until I got about 15% in to get into the rhythm of the POVs but once I got into it I could barely put the book down! It's definitely worth sticking it out if you're struggling as the layout gets easier to understand as you read on (or at least that was how it was for me).
I hope to keep up with this series as it continues and look forward to the rest of the series!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book
I initially did struggle to keep up with all of the POV changes, it took me until I got about 15% in to get into the rhythm of the POVs but once I got into it I could barely put the book down! It's definitely worth sticking it out if you're struggling as the layout gets easier to understand as you read on (or at least that was how it was for me).
I hope to keep up with this series as it continues and look forward to the rest of the series!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book