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

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A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

6 reviews

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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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annorabrady's review

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Karina's story and narration are both engaging and worth reading. Malik's, though, is hard to enjoy. I like the way that his struggles with anxiety are handled. But I struggle with connecting to his story enough to want to hear his POV. And his POV made the romance between him and Karina impossible to care about.

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