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josefina_na's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition
1.0
I genuinely have very little positive to say about this... I disliked virtually all the characters, the plot was incredibly slow and largely predictable, and the pacing was atrocious. The world building takes over 100 pages to do, yet remains a jumbled mess for the majority of the book since you only really hear about the houses in tiny snippets. The setting is heavily referential to locations and streets, which never really feels immersive given how many locations are mentioned and how few of them are actually relevant to the plot. Somehow EVERY side character is introduced is somehow involved in this murder, which to me is just lazy writing and does absolute nothing to establish them as multi-faceted characters.
The mystery at the heart of this was not particularly interesting, and largely solved with hunches and/or plot elements that were convenient. The cast of characters here is SO incredibly small that you can basically identify the villains within the first half of the book. Alex is not a likeable nor interesting protagonist in the slightest, and her mixed race identity felt incredibly shoved in for no real purpose. She ends up being a stereotypical 'chosen one' and so many plot elements in this just felt derived from other fantasy novels. By the end of this, you don't feel particularly immersed in the world and you just have a fuzzy understanding of 8 other magic houses that have been referenced and poorly developed over 450 pages.
Unfortunately I'd say this is in contention for one of my least favourites of the year. The first 100 pages were an absolute snooze and I kept hearing it got better, but if anything it got worse to me with how jumbled the mystery tried to become yet ultimately just being a typical case of Occam's Razor.
I think if you're looking for a dark academia/urban fantasy mystery, [b:Curious Tides|101141871|Curious Tides (Drowned Gods, #1)|Pascale Lacelle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677595192l/101141871._SY75_.jpg|99089026] does a much better job with a similar concept.
The mystery at the heart of this was not particularly interesting, and largely solved with hunches and/or plot elements that were convenient. The cast of characters here is SO incredibly small that you can basically identify the villains within the first half of the book. Alex is not a likeable nor interesting protagonist in the slightest, and her mixed race identity felt incredibly shoved in for no real purpose. She ends up being a stereotypical 'chosen one' and so many plot elements in this just felt derived from other fantasy novels. By the end of this, you don't feel particularly immersed in the world and you just have a fuzzy understanding of 8 other magic houses that have been referenced and poorly developed over 450 pages.
Unfortunately I'd say this is in contention for one of my least favourites of the year. The first 100 pages were an absolute snooze and I kept hearing it got better, but if anything it got worse to me with how jumbled the mystery tried to become yet ultimately just being a typical case of Occam's Razor.
I think if you're looking for a dark academia/urban fantasy mystery, [b:Curious Tides|101141871|Curious Tides (Drowned Gods, #1)|Pascale Lacelle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677595192l/101141871._SY75_.jpg|99089026] does a much better job with a similar concept.
kaleeydg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
velosaraptor's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this was fantastic! It was really awesome to have a character that was a bit older (in college) than usual (at least for this genre). I can't wait to see what comes next!!
jl27's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
This took entirely too long to read. I can think of a number of times where I found myself saying, "just girt to the point!" Not a bad story, but I won't be continuing the series. Writing was overall fine, some of the characters are fine. The author doesn't do much to make a case for a reader to like Alex, though, and I decided I feel rather indifferent about her, so no more for me, thanks.
This took entirely too long to read. I can think of a number of times where I found myself saying, "just girt to the point!" Not a bad story, but I won't be continuing the series. Writing was overall fine, some of the characters are fine. The author doesn't do much to make a case for a reader to like Alex, though, and I decided I feel rather indifferent about her, so no more for me, thanks.
kietz's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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
3.5
the book is pretty slow to start since there’s a lot of world building that has to be done. but toward the middle i understood what we were working with and i find her detail to be very impressive. i really like the main character and how flawed she is. i wish there was more of darlington but it sounds like ill get that in the sequel. solid spooky fantasy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death, and Drug abuse
pms93's review against another edition
challenging
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? No
4.0
mylifeinapixel's review against another edition
5.0
Although it was hard to get into it at the beginning (which is why it took me a few days to finish the book), as I read it became impossible to stop reading. After about page 170, I just couldn't put it down.
balletje__'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
_mpaton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75