Scan barcode
serrendippiet's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.5
In the spirit of honesty, the first part of the book was hard to get into. I felt that the story jumped around a lot and lacked the usual world building of other fantasy stories. I also found the FMC, Kat, to be very anxious and prone to catastrophizing to begin with while also dragging things out and making things almost harder than they needed to be.
There were some plot holes, missing information and links that were made only to be never brought up again. Sometimes, certain parts of the story felt really important, like a “aha!” moment, only for it to go nowhere. Kat’s dad’s journal is the best example, Kat was so happy to have something of her fathers and then it just ended so abruptly only for Kat and Cole to burn it, Kat does nothing with any of the information her father wrote down and it is just never bought up again.
My only other criticism is the lack of bond building between Deaja and Kat, it would have been wonderful to have more scenes in the book of them doing things together, talking and building their bond. I found it hard to adjust to the sudden “deep bond” Kat and Daeja seemed to have without actually doing anything to build it. There are parts of the book that Kat goes days without talking to Daeja and almost seems to forget she’s there. It’s hard to picture them being as close as the book says they are with no chance for the readers to follow along in their development.
I will say though, a good halfway through the book it does a massive turn around. The character development within Kat is astonishing, she went from high anxiety to slowly starting to trust herself and move in confidence. It was really refreshing to read a FMC who isn't born into a wealth of power or is expertly trained in sword-fighting. Kat, for a lack of better words, is useless and I loved it. Her courage and want to be better and help those around her is all she needs and Kat grows into a super relatable character, a lot of what she does, how she responds and her thought process is exactly how you would expect a "normal" person to respond to some of the situations she finds herself in.
I now love the fast-paced intensity of the book because Courtney managed to pack so much into less than 400 pages. The dual love interests? Phenomenal. I haven’t read a book with that trope in it for ages and it was written so well. The back and forward Kat faced between Cole and Darian after Cole’s secret was unleashed had me nervous. The situation between Kat, Cole and Darian is complex and I really enjoyed the slow burn between Kat and Darian with her slowly switching between lovers. I am genuinely looking forward to seeing who Kat will choose!
I found Courtney's writing style changed dramatically as the story developed and it became one of the easier reads I've had this year. I truly got lost in the story and was shocked at the ending, not just because of the cliffhanger, but because I was shocked it was over so soon. I could have kept reading forever. Overall, for a first-time writer, I think Courtney did an amazing job, there are lots of ideas in this story that I think will just need time and more books to develop. I will definitely be reading book two and can’t wait to continue on this journey with Kat and Deaja.
There were some plot holes, missing information and links that were made only to be never brought up again. Sometimes, certain parts of the story felt really important, like a “aha!” moment, only for it to go nowhere. Kat’s dad’s journal is the best example, Kat was so happy to have something of her fathers and then it just ended so abruptly only for Kat and Cole to burn it, Kat does nothing with any of the information her father wrote down and it is just never bought up again.
My only other criticism is the lack of bond building between Deaja and Kat, it would have been wonderful to have more scenes in the book of them doing things together, talking and building their bond. I found it hard to adjust to the sudden “deep bond” Kat and Daeja seemed to have without actually doing anything to build it. There are parts of the book that Kat goes days without talking to Daeja and almost seems to forget she’s there. It’s hard to picture them being as close as the book says they are with no chance for the readers to follow along in their development.
I will say though, a good halfway through the book it does a massive turn around. The character development within Kat is astonishing, she went from high anxiety to slowly starting to trust herself and move in confidence. It was really refreshing to read a FMC who isn't born into a wealth of power or is expertly trained in sword-fighting. Kat, for a lack of better words, is useless and I loved it. Her courage and want to be better and help those around her is all she needs and Kat grows into a super relatable character, a lot of what she does, how she responds and her thought process is exactly how you would expect a "normal" person to respond to some of the situations she finds herself in.
I now love the fast-paced intensity of the book because Courtney managed to pack so much into less than 400 pages. The dual love interests? Phenomenal. I haven’t read a book with that trope in it for ages and it was written so well. The back and forward Kat faced between Cole and Darian after Cole’s secret was unleashed had me nervous. The situation between Kat, Cole and Darian is complex and I really enjoyed the slow burn between Kat and Darian with her slowly switching between lovers. I am genuinely looking forward to seeing who Kat will choose!
I found Courtney's writing style changed dramatically as the story developed and it became one of the easier reads I've had this year. I truly got lost in the story and was shocked at the ending, not just because of the cliffhanger, but because I was shocked it was over so soon. I could have kept reading forever. Overall, for a first-time writer, I think Courtney did an amazing job, there are lots of ideas in this story that I think will just need time and more books to develop. I will definitely be reading book two and can’t wait to continue on this journey with Kat and Deaja.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury