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corvicore's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
hell yeah. wish we'd seen a little more of Jas' and Kohda's relationship though, however i understand that that would be difficult given that the book is from Fie's perspective. Same thing with Viimo. This book also suffers the same problem as the last one, being the author's commitment to overusing a few words in the character's narration, this book having "aught" and "naught" as its victims. I feel like it would be more bearable if the prose was written with more flourish and lyrical aspects, but Margaret Owen's writing style is firmly modern, so these old fashioned words feel all the more stark against the rest of the book. Still, it's a lot better than the first book and all the god damned "betwixt's" there lol.
Although I do like Rhusana and her development in this book, I wish she were a bit more threatening. We are told right at the beginning what her weaknesses are, and the protagonists never fail to exploit them, so beating her feels like less of a challenge than it should be. I think the only time I was genuinely threatened by her was whenshe sicced her tiger on the noblewoman at the party , but even then I don't think that brute force is the best way to show how scary a villain is. That's just me though, I tend to lean more towards the more cunning and "scares-you-by-how-smart-they-are" kind of baddies haha. I do like the Disney-villain end she got though.
I'm also a little perplexed by theKhoda vs. Tavin rivalry that was set up at the beginning and then never followed up on. Honestly when I read that Tavin was looking at Khoda weird I thought that he was checking him out, not being jealous. It feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity to not use this to further explore Tavin's bisexuality and also foreshadow his betrayal. Although, while writing this review I realize that that could possibly bring up some negative stereotypes about bisexual people being cheaters... I don't know. It just feels weird.
Complaints aside, I really really love this book. It followed up on some of the worldbuilding that confused me last book, such as Birthrights and inter-caste marriages. Also cats. Owen heard our plea for more cats and delivered in the best way possible. And the reincarnation thing is so cool :D
Although I do like Rhusana and her development in this book, I wish she were a bit more threatening. We are told right at the beginning what her weaknesses are, and the protagonists never fail to exploit them, so beating her feels like less of a challenge than it should be. I think the only time I was genuinely threatened by her was when
I'm also a little perplexed by the
Complaints aside, I really really love this book. It followed up on some of the worldbuilding that confused me last book, such as Birthrights and inter-caste marriages. Also cats. Owen heard our plea for more cats and delivered in the best way possible. And the reincarnation thing is so cool :D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, and Vomit
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