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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
King Dagen, welcome to the number three spot on my list of Book Boyfriends.
Nizzara: What a kickass FMC! Her battle between self-preservation and destroying everyone was everything.
Dagen: If Nizzara doesn’t want to call you Shadow Daddy …. I WILL.
Something about the “I was sent to kill you, but can’t” trope just scratches my brain. In less than 500 pages, I cried, giggled, and wanted to punch a wall. I love every second of it. The ending answered just enough of my questions with twists that were somewhat predictable, but enough to make me gasp.
I need book 2 and a special edition of this because it’s going on the Trophy Shelf.
Nizzara: What a kickass FMC! Her battle between self-preservation and destroying everyone was everything.
Dagen: If Nizzara doesn’t want to call you Shadow Daddy …. I WILL.
Something about the “I was sent to kill you, but can’t” trope just scratches my brain. In less than 500 pages, I cried, giggled, and wanted to punch a wall. I love every second of it. The ending answered just enough of my questions with twists that were somewhat predictable, but enough to make me gasp.
I need book 2 and a special edition of this because it’s going on the Trophy Shelf.
“Monsters can hide in such humble, deceivable forms.”
⭐️ 5
⭐️ 5
fast-paced
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this book so badly. I wanted to support an indie author, and the premise sounded intriguing. Ultimately, the book fell flat.
The characters were pretty one-dimensional. The FMC, Nizzara, has a deep aversion to using her power. She refuses to kill. The only issue is that she constantly competes in duels and is being trained to kill. She refuses to use her power, even while her friend, a little slave girl, is whipped repeatedly. It just felt like a stubborn refusal for the sake of building tension with no real depth to the decision. She doesn't accept her power until the very end, and when she does, it's entirely underwhelming.
The MMC, Dagen, is incredibly flat. He doesn't seem to have a personality aside from saying, "You cruel little beast." He supposedly wants to fight for his kingdom and save his people, but in the end when he's revealed to be the King of Kings and fulfills this incredibly important prophecy, he sulks in his room for days.
There were a lot of plot points that felt super underdeveloped, some that came out of nowhere, and some that were dropped completely. Nizzara's training implied for almost the entire book that she was struggling and could barely fight, but by the end, she's all of a sudden kicking ass and comfortable with a sword. The development wasn't there. Her mother was revealed to be a goddess in a five second conversation that held no weight. It came out of nowhere and the significance never really sank in aside from Dagen calling her a goddess. There's some highly important book in their book cove that Nizzara is supposed to get to learn about her heritage and powers, but never does. Her mom disappears at one point and we're never told what happened to her.
The world building was very weak. I was never quite sure whether we were in traditional fantasy or urban fantasy. We're in a castle, but there are cars. We've got kingdoms and monarchy, but there are guns and zippers on the clothing. It was all over the map and never really developed itself fully as a solid world.
The dialogue felt the same way. They'd have lines that were spoken more in theme with traditional fantasy, and then they'd say things like "yeah, yep, nope, stuff". It was really inconsistent and not very well written.
There's a scene where Nizzara is almost raped, and just a couple hours later, she's making out with Dagen like nothing ever happened. If you're going to include a topic as serious as rape, at least give it the weight it deserves. I can't imagine she'd already be ready to have another man all over her immediately after.
In the acknowledgements, the author mentioned her writing was influenced by Rebecca Yarros, Carissa Broadbent, and Sarah J. Maas, among others. That's extremely evident in several details. The vessel power, while unique, comes with a Mark that feels exactly like the signets in Fourth Wing. The King Duel Tournament where the winner gets whatever they want as their prize is reminiscent of the Kejari in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. The cruel father/king who turns out to be possessed by an evil spirit is reminiscent of Throne of Glass.
Overall I was pretty disappointed in this book. I hope it gets the overhaul it needs now that it's being trad published.
The characters were pretty one-dimensional. The FMC, Nizzara, has a deep aversion to using her power. She refuses to kill. The only issue is that she constantly competes in duels and is being trained to kill. She refuses to use her power, even while her friend, a little slave girl, is whipped repeatedly. It just felt like a stubborn refusal for the sake of building tension with no real depth to the decision. She doesn't accept her power until the very end, and when she does, it's entirely underwhelming.
The MMC, Dagen, is incredibly flat. He doesn't seem to have a personality aside from saying, "You cruel little beast." He supposedly wants to fight for his kingdom and save his people, but in the end when he's revealed to be the King of Kings and fulfills this incredibly important prophecy, he sulks in his room for days.
There were a lot of plot points that felt super underdeveloped, some that came out of nowhere, and some that were dropped completely. Nizzara's training implied for almost the entire book that she was struggling and could barely fight, but by the end, she's all of a sudden kicking ass and comfortable with a sword. The development wasn't there. Her mother was revealed to be a goddess in a five second conversation that held no weight. It came out of nowhere and the significance never really sank in aside from Dagen calling her a goddess. There's some highly important book in their book cove that Nizzara is supposed to get to learn about her heritage and powers, but never does. Her mom disappears at one point and we're never told what happened to her.
The world building was very weak. I was never quite sure whether we were in traditional fantasy or urban fantasy. We're in a castle, but there are cars. We've got kingdoms and monarchy, but there are guns and zippers on the clothing. It was all over the map and never really developed itself fully as a solid world.
The dialogue felt the same way. They'd have lines that were spoken more in theme with traditional fantasy, and then they'd say things like "yeah, yep, nope, stuff". It was really inconsistent and not very well written.
There's a scene where Nizzara is almost raped, and just a couple hours later, she's making out with Dagen like nothing ever happened. If you're going to include a topic as serious as rape, at least give it the weight it deserves. I can't imagine she'd already be ready to have another man all over her immediately after.
In the acknowledgements, the author mentioned her writing was influenced by Rebecca Yarros, Carissa Broadbent, and Sarah J. Maas, among others. That's extremely evident in several details. The vessel power, while unique, comes with a Mark that feels exactly like the signets in Fourth Wing. The King Duel Tournament where the winner gets whatever they want as their prize is reminiscent of the Kejari in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. The cruel father/king who turns out to be possessed by an evil spirit is reminiscent of Throne of Glass.
Overall I was pretty disappointed in this book. I hope it gets the overhaul it needs now that it's being trad published.