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

I had a rocky start with this book, and it only got better at nearly 300 pages in — but it became a fantastic read, with extremely good world building and exciting twists and turns.

I did not enjoy the darkness of a lot of the early story, and often felt that the main character was being mercilessly beaten and picked on. Perhaps this was the author’s way of balancing him out (he may be a genius and good at everything he does, BUT he has terrible luck and every asshole gets to beat him). It didn’t feel like it balanced his genius to me, it just felt like reading about a 12 year old getting beaten for a hundred pages. Maybe I’m sensitive.

Still, there were ~500 pages of an amazing story, complete with a mysterious library, good friends, and many heroic escapades. A good read. 

Having read this book, I’m conflicted about whether to pick up the second book in the series. This book was both amazing and terrible. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Took me 4 years to get through this beast but I enjoyed every moment. It's a heavy book, lots of words, but they're good words, well written. I didn't hate it, but I also needed a break in between because it had so many words. Not a bad thing though because I genuinely enjoyed it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book started out incredibly slow. I was almost ready to DNF (jk I don’t DNF) but then the main character got to university and it finally got interesting. 
I do think the writing could have been more concise, there was no reason this had to be 700 pages. But the academia, conflict, magic, and desires were definitely compelling. The reveal at the end that I proudly predicted will be the main thing that keeps me going through the series. I would say this is an okay read, and perhaps good for fans of thick “hard fantasy” novels with lots of descriptions. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous mysterious slow-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

Me ha gustado la forma en la que está narrado el libro, incluso si a veces se hace extremadamente lento.
El protagonista es un "héroe" [(bastante) impaciente] al que no le sale casi nada bien.

Creo que lo único que no me acaba de gustar es la visión de los personajes femeninos.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Would give it 4 stars but there were a few misogynistic parts that didn't sit well with me.
Will I read the sequel: likely but not a priority since the third book hasn't come out yet.

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