4.41 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional 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: No

i love a book that keeps the reader in the dark about some of the things the main character doing/their motives. it kept me on my toes, lots of story building in the beginning, and i really liked the magic system. it wasn’t too complicated, neither were the politics. very peaky blinders-esc with the abbreviated folk english and mines and pubs. the longing/yearning/he-falls-first/tension is insane. talking about how they feel without admitting it to each other. 13 years of thinking about her? swooooooon. the themes of the fmc not wanted to be used as a weapon by either side, and the mmc being the key to the war complimented eachother, and i loved the comparison pf theo and patrick. of a person who knows about your teenage years and can relate, versus a familiar face that knows your roots that can also relate. theo pissed me off in the middle but he redeemed himself at the end. i hope patrick gives nina a VERY hard time about lying to him. she couldve found a way out. he deserves better imo….. he was valid for asking her to sink the tunnel at the very end. can’t wait for book 2 (?) this cured my reading slump.

fave quote: “thank you” “for what?” “for giving me that piece of yourself. i swear to you. i’ll look after it.” i sobbed.
 <\spoiler>
adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
adventurous funny hopeful 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

Excellent read. All the hallmarks of a romantasy read, without the feeling it’s a copy and paste of every other romantasy. I did feel like the start of the book skipped through moments that could have been expanded on. Believable relationships and plot. The magic system wasn’t convoluted, it had a good foundation within the story. This read felt original and had good plot development and convincing romantic tension without the corniness/cringe.
dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really enjoyed this. I thought the magic system was really interesting and how the government controls it and uses to keep the poor in line. Then how that control can be threatened when two 12 year olds learn a secret and use it to their advantage in different ways.

The relationship between Nina and Patrick almost seems rushed but, it is times of revolution, and both admit to never forgetting about the other and those hours together that could change the world. I love the banter they share and all the mutual yearning before the dam breaks.

And as far as a cliffhanger goes, what was that? When is book 2 coming out, because I NEED it.

Also, I listened to the audiobook version, and that was excellent as well.
adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes