Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

This is a title that sat on my TBR list for about a year before I found a copy, and probably suffered from the anticipation. It's sad to say that I found it mediocre. Most of the plot is based around an elimination challenge tournament... like Hunger Games for lower stakes.. maybe more "Survivor Ziran".

As far as the world and mood is concerned, I quite liked the setting but I felt like there are are other authors who have done it better and developed it more. Rather than this I would prefer to be reading Tomi Adeyemi, Jordan Ifueko or Shannon Chakraborty, and I've been really itching to nail down exactly what it is that is rubbing me the wrong way.

The setting doesn't feel realistic, in that I can't conceive of a world where a Princess who is heir to a throne is left so clueless about matters of State without expecting some kind of Regent/caregiver contingency. Nobody is going to just NOT train their replacement. The logical outcome would be turmoil and a power-vacuum that would be filled at first by the council or advisor with the most heft. The politics is too simple to be realistic(ish), and not nuanced enough to come across as clever.

I think what it comes down to, is the whole plot feels slippery. There is magic, but how the magic works is not explained. Characters appear to go from passive magical sense to being inexplicably brilliant at their magical craft in the blink of an eye for no apparent reason. There is no sense of build and reward. It's hard to attach significance things when you can't tell what is dangerous, or impressive. It's impossible to build a character when you don't know what they value, or when what they say they value isn't carried out by their actions. In a plot where there is the promise of magical necromancy, it's hard to feel like killing off a character is necessarily permanent, so fearing for someone gets difficult.

It seems like most of the characters in this story are impulsive. They don't plan so much as decide to do a thing! and then get surprised when something stops them or they have to turn on a dime. The main characters are a hot mess, and and don't grow much during the story. It's like we are told how they feel about something that happens, rather than being able to intuit it, and follow their reactions in a natural way. The plot appears to lead the story more than the characters, and the whole thing seems thematically barren. Bigotry and exploitation is bad, magic is forbidden, but these seem like things to say rather than be used as points to guide the narrative.

Being led through this story feels like I'm only getting half the information I need, and there is little sense of anticipation. Perhaps I am bringing my own baggage with me, as this is a similar feeling to how I get when living with ADHD people who are continually fluctuating. The only gap in this call of unpredictable inconstancy, is the inevitable betrayal that turned out to be absolutely no surprise to me. Such trope, much wow.

I so wanted to love this, but instead here lies the autopsy of a story... and from its entrails I read: "not likely to seek the sequel in a hurry".

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.75

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sarahdotmp4's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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thatbookishwriter23's review

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

Liked it, but expected a bit more action

After a spirit adducts his sister, Malik must win a contest, emerge as King, and kill the Crown princess for his sister's freedom. Meanwhile, struggling with the death of her mother, Princess Karina seeks the heart of a king to resurrect her. Yet, against all odds, the two fall in love with each other.

Pros

+Malik personality. You don't see much soft bois in YA. Malik was so soft and adorable and empathic. It nice change from these brooding bad boys about we always see.

+anxiety rep. The anxiety rep is so good especially when Malik had a panic attack. I am so glad to finally see some good mental health rep. I especially since love or anything else didn't cure his anxiety by the end.

+competition. I like the idea of the Champion competition and the different Aligned champions

+the twists and turns at the end redeemed the book for me and made me look forward to reading the sequel.

+history. Learning some of the history and how it all came into play at the end was interesting.

Cons

-slowpaced. I feel like the focus is so heavy on emotions and not enough on the characters task. I feel like that got nothing done until late in the book.

-Karina. Karina was so immature and infuriating to read about. She was constantly making rash decisions in her hot headness. She was also pushed everyone away and damaged her image. I mean, I know she's a teenager dealing with a lot of unprocessed grief, but that did make it any less frustrating to read. She gets better by the end but it doesn't erase the first half of the book.

-infodumps. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a history textbook. Characters would record history of the city and while it was interesting, I was left wondering what the importance of it was.

-development. Character development didn't come until exactly 65% percent of the book.

-lack of chemistry. The protagonists spend so time apart for more than first half of the book. Their chemistry felt rushed and sudden.

This book was different than I thought it would be. It was more tame. I thought it would have more action and less dialogue.

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