Scan barcode
akookieforyou's review against another edition
2.0
*2.75*
My feelings are so mixed, I really liked certain aspects, but I just couldn't quite fall in love with this book. Honestly I'm starting to question whether or not I even enjoy fantasy anymore, everything I pick up is disappointing for one reason or another.
My favorite thing about this book has to be the unique and interesting world, and magic system. Obviously that stems from the fact that the author based this story in west African folklore, which is something I have very little experience with. It was fun to explore something that was so different from what I'm used to. I also found the baseline of the story engaging, plans of murder will always be something that captures my attention.
The characters are where my feelings get dicey. I liked Malik well enough, he was sweet and relatable, and he was the only person I really cared about (plus his magic was the best). However, pretty much everyone else made me feel ambivalent or irritated. Karina being the character that frustrated me the most. She was absolutely horrible to everyone around her, and almost never had reason to be. She even acknowledges how she attacks people whenever she senses weakness. I didn't hate her, but she was so hard to sympathize with, and I just didn't care about her plan. So because of all of that, and other smaller things, I just couldn't rate this book any higher.
My feelings are so mixed, I really liked certain aspects, but I just couldn't quite fall in love with this book. Honestly I'm starting to question whether or not I even enjoy fantasy anymore, everything I pick up is disappointing for one reason or another.
My favorite thing about this book has to be the unique and interesting world, and magic system. Obviously that stems from the fact that the author based this story in west African folklore, which is something I have very little experience with. It was fun to explore something that was so different from what I'm used to. I also found the baseline of the story engaging, plans of murder will always be something that captures my attention.
The characters are where my feelings get dicey. I liked Malik well enough, he was sweet and relatable, and he was the only person I really cared about (plus his magic was the best). However, pretty much everyone else made me feel ambivalent or irritated. Karina being the character that frustrated me the most. She was absolutely horrible to everyone around her, and almost never had reason to be. She even acknowledges how she attacks people whenever she senses weakness. I didn't hate her, but she was so hard to sympathize with, and I just didn't care about her plan
Spoiler
resurrecting her mother was stupid from the beginning, and if her plan went well, she would've thrown away any chance she could've had at happiness (disregarding Malik's plan to kill her, she didn't know about that).snowship's review
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
kenzbrandes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I was pleasantly surprised by this book as I picked it up on a whim. I really enjoyed how this was a unique fantasy with magic and creatures I haven’t seen before. The pacing was a little weird, some parts lagged with too many unnecessary details and the ending wrapped up far too fast for me. The twists were predictable but still gut wrenching at the end. Also, the romance seemed half baked. Still, what an incredible story - curious to see how this wraps up in the next book.
issianne's review against another edition
4.0
This book is just good, classic YA fantasy! We’ve got the main characters wanting to kill each other, we’ve got politics, we’ve got trauma and a panic disorder representation, we have West-African vibes. I need to know what’s going to happen in book two. (Listened to most of it through an audiobook and it made it very enjoyable!)
cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Strong debut, plot is really good and I do love soft boy /though girl but romance isn't very flashed out.
I'm looking forward to see how will all end.
Strong debut, plot is really good and I do love soft boy /though girl but romance isn't very flashed out.
I'm looking forward to see how will all end.
helenamt's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
c1aud55n's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️
This book fell a little flat for me. I hope in the next few installments we get to see more character development, the main two character weren’t extremely compelling and the story was really heldback by how underdeveloped the side characters were. I just couldn’t really understand their motoves well. The world building and magic system was intriguing at first but ended up sorely undervdeveloped. i hope we get to see more of that in the next book. I feel like the story could be amazing depending on where the author decides to take it in the book.
This book fell a little flat for me. I hope in the next few installments we get to see more character development, the main two character weren’t extremely compelling and the story was really heldback by how underdeveloped the side characters were. I just couldn’t really understand their motoves well. The world building and magic system was intriguing at first but ended up sorely undervdeveloped. i hope we get to see more of that in the next book. I feel like the story could be amazing depending on where the author decides to take it in the book.