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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a sucker for a good Italian inspired fantasy world.
This was a fun but broody YA fantasy novel that in the end doesn't seem to trust its audience's intelligence. The world and its religion were well developed and interesting. I do think that Lobb spoke to the teenage desire to better the world and end inequality. She brings to life a complicated and messy teen relationship that is able to be messy without being toxic. Roz and Damian are flawed individuals that make mistakes in a way that I feel is more realistic than some other YA novels. That was refreshing to read to be honest.
I appreciate that Lobb also kept us guessing to the end of who the murderer was and engineered a legitimately intelligent twist. However, once the culprit was unmasked so to speak, the book seems to swerve into thinking its audience is stupid territory. Our villain engages in a cliche monologue and spoon feeds information to the audience in a way that was insulting. Teens are intelligent, they don't need everything spelled out for them.
That being said, the epilogue was a banger.
This was a fun but broody YA fantasy novel that in the end doesn't seem to trust its audience's intelligence. The world and its religion were well developed and interesting. I do think that Lobb spoke to the teenage desire to better the world and end inequality. She brings to life a complicated and messy teen relationship that is able to be messy without being toxic. Roz and Damian are flawed individuals that make mistakes in a way that I feel is more realistic than some other YA novels. That was refreshing to read to be honest.
I appreciate that Lobb also kept us guessing to the end of who the murderer was and engineered a legitimately intelligent twist. However, once the culprit was unmasked so to speak, the book seems to swerve into thinking its audience is stupid territory. Our villain engages in a cliche monologue and spoon feeds information to the audience in a way that was insulting. Teens are intelligent, they don't need everything spelled out for them.
That being said, the epilogue was a banger.
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
huh. took 12 days to finish, although that’s probably less to do with the book and more my hectic schedules and breakdowns etc. i’ve been looking forward to this book for ages, which is why i was very happy to have finally gotten around to starting it, but it really did not live up to any of my expectations.
the plot is very.. classical ya, in the sense that maybe it would’ve been received better (by me, at least) if it had been released around 2015. seven years later, however, it comes off as very retired and obvious, with very blatant and underwhelming characters and plot sequences. like, to the point where within five chapters i could predict who the killer was, where this book and series was going, and exactly how the characters would get there. it’s not bad, really, or even taxing to read, but it does feel extremely recycled and frankly, a pointless exercise in reading.
the only saving grace is the male lead, damian. even formulaic, he’s written with slightly more nuance and derivation than just about anything else in the book, probably because the series predominantly revolves around him/his “powers” (sorry, spoiler?) but it came to be the only thing keeping me from dnfing the book entirely. sadly, this interest didn’t extend to the female lead, or the love story, because although they’re.. sort of, in your face in the book, a lot of it is lectured in a very tired way. it’s a lot of tell, no show: which makes for an extremely exhausting read, because you’re told so many things “great romance!!!” “badass fmc!!!” “she’s broken!!!” “she’s vengeful she’s insane!!!” “they loved like starlight!!!!” and yet NONE of it is shown on page. i went through a lot of vague, flowery, not really feeling, honestly pointless words, and.. that’s it. as if i’m just supposed to accept it for that, despite never seeing any of this so called star-crossed depth on paper. i don’t know, maybe it’s likable to some people. to me, however, it came off as reading a particularly boring course book in a subject you didn’t much care about in the first place. but i digress. again, the book is truly not at all that bad, i promise. it’s just that it’s not good, when i was expecting it to be.. well, perhaps not perfect, but at least /something/, and it wasn’t. so. i don’t know what else to say lmao, but thanks to hachette book group for the arc. 2/5
the plot is very.. classical ya, in the sense that maybe it would’ve been received better (by me, at least) if it had been released around 2015. seven years later, however, it comes off as very retired and obvious, with very blatant and underwhelming characters and plot sequences. like, to the point where within five chapters i could predict who the killer was, where this book and series was going, and exactly how the characters would get there. it’s not bad, really, or even taxing to read, but it does feel extremely recycled and frankly, a pointless exercise in reading.
the only saving grace is the male lead, damian. even formulaic, he’s written with slightly more nuance and derivation than just about anything else in the book, probably because the series predominantly revolves around him/his “powers” (sorry, spoiler?) but it came to be the only thing keeping me from dnfing the book entirely. sadly, this interest didn’t extend to the female lead, or the love story, because although they’re.. sort of, in your face in the book, a lot of it is lectured in a very tired way. it’s a lot of tell, no show: which makes for an extremely exhausting read, because you’re told so many things “great romance!!!” “badass fmc!!!” “she’s broken!!!” “she’s vengeful she’s insane!!!” “they loved like starlight!!!!” and yet NONE of it is shown on page. i went through a lot of vague, flowery, not really feeling, honestly pointless words, and.. that’s it. as if i’m just supposed to accept it for that, despite never seeing any of this so called star-crossed depth on paper. i don’t know, maybe it’s likable to some people. to me, however, it came off as reading a particularly boring course book in a subject you didn’t much care about in the first place. but i digress. again, the book is truly not at all that bad, i promise. it’s just that it’s not good, when i was expecting it to be.. well, perhaps not perfect, but at least /something/, and it wasn’t. so. i don’t know what else to say lmao, but thanks to hachette book group for the arc. 2/5
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Once childhood friends, Roz and Damien have the perfect enemies-to-lovers dynamic that drives the mystery behind the murders and their tie to the gods.
Seven Faceless Saints follows Roz and Damien on different sides of their world, both finding their way back to one another through war and mysterious deaths.
Great Characterization
I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope when it is done right, and Lobb does a phenomenal job here.
There is a lot of tension between the two characters because there is so much history between them. Roz and Damien were childhood friends, in love with one another, until one day, Damien is sent off to fight in war, and Roz’s father is marked as a deserter. Deserters, when caught, are executed. And Damien’s father was the man who dealt the death blow.
A rift has already appeared between the two characters before the story starts. Still, the slow build of history raises tension between them. They spend most of the novel fighting their past romance, harboring their ill feelings for one another and their resentment. Damien hates his father, himself, and the role he played in Roz’s father’s death. He feels undeserving of her.
Roz feels unfiltered rage, rage at him for staying away and saying nothing, rage at the system that is unjust, and rage at herself for being unable to stop loving the boy responsible for her father’s death.
Storytelling
Nestled between those character dynamics are the mysterious murders Roz and Damien are trying to solve. The death in the opening chapter sets off a chain of events that bring Roz and Damien back into each other’s orbits.
The deaths are mysterious, and they don’t make sense. Still, something is lingering there, connected to Chaos, the forbidden saint. Roz and Damien are trying to put the pieces together, all while a rebellion is brewing in the town’s streets.
Seven Faceless Saints has a quick pace and a plot that continues to build on top of itself, layer after layer, making for a riveting story.
Final Thoughts
Seven Faceless Saints is a brilliant start to a new duology, engaging and compelling, with an enemies-to-lovers romance that puts the reader at the edge of their seat.
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adventurous
dark
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
medium-paced