Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Foundryside

Really enjoyed it! Good world building and an interesting magic system. Points docked for the lackluster romance buildup and overuse of the word “scrumming”.

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nokvi's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

I contemplated a lot about how to effectively rate this book. Beautiful magic system and lovable characters, Foundryside was one of my more enjoyable reads. Bennett does his best to ease you into the world of Foundryside and the fact that our MC Sancia is just as confused about the magic system as we are is the cherry on top. We navigate the world with Sancia as Bennett, explains the magic system to us over...
and over
and over
okay Robert I understand the basics now I promise

The man can write an action scene because trust there are some gory points in this book. Other than Robert's tendency to tell instead of show sometimes and his over explaining (which I can understand why people DNF this book)

Foundryside is wonderful critique of human greed, capitalism and hard limits. It begs us to ask just how much are we willing to do in the name of advancement? At what point does righteous anger become needless slaughter? We meet men and women willing to bend the very fabric of our world to ensure that they get what they want. Tevanne is a city filled with so much woes and those with the ability to assist can't be bothered thus leaving thousands without. Foundryside examines how history is twisted and lost thus influencing the world to repeat or get trapped in a similar cycle. It ask us to look within as we try to understand world as our characters do

We follow three characters as they interact with the environment and circumstances around them and in a limited third person POV, Bennett produces exceptional world building (other than when he info dumps), which is an experience when 1 member of your cast is as lost as the reader, the other is been blindsided and is naive to just how corrupt the system he is trying to fix is (Gregor my baby) and the last one is so deep within the magical system and power structure that his morals tend to be more self serving before reaching for the better.

Foundryside definitely made it's impact and I do so look forward to what is done in book 2

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

Super fun fantasy novel, big fan of the Italian inspired setting! I liked the characters a lot and I'm excited to see the magic system unfold here

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briely's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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oldladysadie's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am floored by how much I enjoyed this book. The worldbuilding sucked me in immediately, I love how the magic of scriving works, the action continually surprised me and kept me on the edge of my seat, and Clef is just so funny. And mixing in

a sapphic romance for Sancia and Berenice

?? Say less.

10/10, no notes, RIP my bank account picking up the rest of this series because my local libraries only have Book 1 🫠

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this__nerd's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny reflective 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

This book is not only a story about the dangerous work of a hired thief who finds herself mixed up in some major political espionage and sabotage, it’s a story about challenging yourself, understanding your worth, scientific discovery, and critique of the human condition. The main character is smart, funny, and a total bad ass. All the main cast of characters see some degree of development and evolution through their involvement in the story. And there’s a talking key who’s funny as hell. I was engrossed and couldn’t put the story down

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