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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Look, this book was kind of enjoyable. But unfortunately, it had pacing and character issues.
-The pacing was episodic and jarring. You could see when the story was being controlled by the author.
-There was never any sense of danger or price to the characters- when Pa was realised to be alive, I near groaned because I knew everything was going to be okay
-the oath was the only thing holding the plot together.
-The story had a problem with telling the reader what they wanted us to interpret, and then showed us what the character did.
-The characters were always going into situations blind, or forgetting parts of the plans that the READER KNEW. And then would recover with a “I knew all along”/ “I had a fall back”. There was no foreshadowing that the characters knew what they were doing, which made it even more infuriating. Also the fall back? 90% of the time it was the deus ex machina of Phoenix teeth.
And now I’m going to round this up with the parts of the book I did like:
-the world building was great! I loved the caste system and that each had their own powers. I loved that the Crows could take anyone else’s, because let’s be real, most of the time the villains get that power.
-I could feel the relationships between most of the characters. I felt that Jasimir/Fie’s relationship worked because they weren’t on the same page. Their discordance was essential to having some tension in the story.
Tavin/Fie’s relationship was fairly slow burn, and was the main selling part of the book for me. I found it to be the strongest part of the book. When they finally did the thing
I was happy as!
Overall, this book unfortunately wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be, but shows potential for the author in future novels. I will not be keeping this book in my collection.
3.3 This book wasn't bad...But if I had more of the energy to read more I probably would have liked it
ARC provided by Edelweiss and Fierce Reads in exchange for an honest review. All quotes and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof
----------------"The Crows were merciful, but they weren't cheap"
Strap yourselves in! I am exploding with love for this book! It really is not everyday when you find a fantasy that just envelops your whole world. This book is absolutely everything I have ever wanted from a fantasy novel!
Adventure? Check!
Amazing characters? Check!
LGBT+ REP? CHECK!
character arcs NOT revolving around their sexuality? McCheck!
ACTUALLY FUNNY??? check.
To begin, this book has QUOTES! Like, I want to see all the Merciful Crow merch! The bookmarks and pins you could make from the quotes in this book are endless. The writing just has this very brutal and honest way of attacking you. The world that Fie lives in is hard and vicious to her and her people, the atmosphere created by this writing really reflects that. Even when you're not directly reading about it, the writing reminds you of how Fie has had to grow up.
To say more on this, Fie is an amazing character! She is honestly one of my favorite heroines ever! Right up there with all my favs. It's because she has this hard exterior, but has the struggles to merit it. Underneath it all, you can still see the young girl she is, the one who loves her family and want to dream, but she's also practical and determined. I found her character incredibly compelling. Not every book I read has characters that I can attach myself to completely and I'm still able to love those books, but Fie just has so much depth that I could really see myself in her. I was constantly rooting for her and laughing at all her jokes.
The other characters were just as incredible, Tavin was a particular favorite of mine. His easy smile and humor made him a really fun character to read and follow. I am obviously smitten! There were just some parts of this book that made my jaw drop, partly in humor, but also in plot. His character was honestly a gift and I am just not used to receiving. And Jas...well Jas took a second of adjustment. By the end of the book, I honestly really appreciated his character. He has a really bumpy dynamic with Fie and it was a lot of fun to read. Way better than if they had been friends from the start. Their bickering was fun, but it also gave both characters a lot of complexity and development.
I think these characters really came off as being products of their world and to me, it worked really well because of the world-building in place. In this world, there is a caste system in place based on the bird of your birthright. Each birthright is a gift from the gods corresponding to the bird you're born under. Having the caste legend in the beginning of the book with the names and gifts of each tier is really helpful. Also, having a map of this world is also great to have while reading since the characters do a lot of traveling. I loved learning about the kinds of magic each caste has and how it works. I would love more of Fie's story, of course, but spin-offs would be just as interesting because I think this is a great world to play in.
Basically, this book was full on amazing, both because of the world and the characters. I'm not one to be drawn in by plots, but this one really got to me. I was hanging on the edge of my seat and cheering as they went. I was completely unable to put this book down! I was reading it everywhere! I was torn between making it last and needing to know what happens! I can't recommend this book enough to everyone, but especially: Fans of Six of Crows, lovers of funny not-always-serious fantasy, and people who are dying for their next favorite character.
TL;DR This book may very well be the perfect fantasy! Read it for amazing characters, great plot, fantastic world, and cats! Yay!
This is one of those books that I can’t believe isn’t more popular. The world building is probably one of the best I’ve seen from a YA fantasy, with great allegories for race and class mixed into the world like sneaking medicine into a dog’s food. The magic system is incredibly unique.
The buy-in for Fie and her motivations is instantaneous. I will say it took me some time to warm to Tavin, but in the end he won me over. Jasimir was so annoying even though I know if takes time to for character to develop, so I had to hold out for hope for the next book.
It does take a little for the plot to kick into gear but I think it’s well worth it to explore the world of Sabor and how the Crows are looked at by the rest of the castes.
My only complaint is that it didn’t feel like the majority of the characters were entirely well fleshed-out; you can kind of tell that the author had two favourites and due to that, those two characters got to do the majority of the action, had the most power, and got the most dialogue/growth. Since neither of those two were my favourite character and I’m a very character-oriented reader, this dropped the rating down for me. Regardless, it was a captivating story and a fairly quick read!
I enjoyed following Fie as she navigates the challenges out in front of her. She is a crow, the lowliest of castes in her world. She makes a deal with a prince to help her people. Their journey was exciting and kept me listening well past when I should have stopped!
Looking forward to book 2.