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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
DNF, unfortunately.
The description of the book really drew me in. It sounded like something I would love. Magical creatures? Dystopian elements? Main characters that are POC and/or queer? Yes, please.
I loved Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and was hoping for something in that realm. I am disappointed and I wanted so much to like this book, but it just didn’t work for me.
This is the story of The Fracture, the events leading up to it, and the events that occur as a result of it. It starts with a police shooting and it morphs into something much bigger and scarier. Magical creatures (werewolves, dragons, witches) start to come out of the shadows and make their presence known to the general public. There are secret societies, packs of werewolves, and a pro-monster organization with its own secrets.
I couldn’t get past the narration/POV. The narrator is sometimes a part of the story and sometimes they just tell the story. It is not immediately obvious who the narrator is; is it the author? Is it someone completely unrelated to the characters? Or is it a disembodied voice? Am I missing something? I found it difficult to keep track of the people and places within the book because there was so much jumping around. A character would be talking about someone like they had been introduced to the reader, but I would have no idea who that person was and how they were related to the character - it just wasn’t explained well enough for me. I prefer to read stories that are more straight-forward and less abstract.
Though I personally didn’t care for it doesn’t mean that it is a bad book. The prose the author uses is vivid and detailed. The skill of the author shines through because it is a well written book. The concept is interesting and I’m sure people who are into more literary fantasy/supernatural books will enjoy this quite a bit. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t my bag.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The description of the book really drew me in. It sounded like something I would love. Magical creatures? Dystopian elements? Main characters that are POC and/or queer? Yes, please.
I loved Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and was hoping for something in that realm. I am disappointed and I wanted so much to like this book, but it just didn’t work for me.
This is the story of The Fracture, the events leading up to it, and the events that occur as a result of it. It starts with a police shooting and it morphs into something much bigger and scarier. Magical creatures (werewolves, dragons, witches) start to come out of the shadows and make their presence known to the general public. There are secret societies, packs of werewolves, and a pro-monster organization with its own secrets.
I couldn’t get past the narration/POV. The narrator is sometimes a part of the story and sometimes they just tell the story. It is not immediately obvious who the narrator is; is it the author? Is it someone completely unrelated to the characters? Or is it a disembodied voice? Am I missing something? I found it difficult to keep track of the people and places within the book because there was so much jumping around. A character would be talking about someone like they had been introduced to the reader, but I would have no idea who that person was and how they were related to the character - it just wasn’t explained well enough for me. I prefer to read stories that are more straight-forward and less abstract.
Though I personally didn’t care for it doesn’t mean that it is a bad book. The prose the author uses is vivid and detailed. The skill of the author shines through because it is a well written book. The concept is interesting and I’m sure people who are into more literary fantasy/supernatural books will enjoy this quite a bit. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t my bag.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fascinating and befuddling. Great prose, great concept, I am just as confused as when I started
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i wanted to like this book, i really did. i kept waiting for it to get over its growing pains but it never happened. firstly, i found the chapters in past tense to be much better written than the ones in present tense. the constant switching between passive and active voice (with no apparent rhyme or reason) plus the weird reluctance to use contractions really took me out of the story on numerous occasions. secondly, the prose is fine, but it's way too obvious that the author favors these like, bombshell, mic-drop quotable lines over letting the reader come to their own conclusions. i found myself irritated whenever the author spoiled a moment by trying to come up with some instagram-worthy line about a character's thoughts or feelings instead of letting me do the detective work over time. booooo.
the book has a huge cast of characters, which is to its detriment. not only did we not stay with any character for a long time, i found that most of the storylines did not intersect in any meaningful way. no individual character or arc was given enough attention, and the novel as a whole just feels muddled. it doesn't help that we jump from person to person, and from past to present over and over again. i was straight up forgetting who people were.
the worldbuilding is also just. bad. each new reveal of either the magic or the lore made the previous knowledge make less sense, and it had me constantly asking questions. in a bad way. i get that this is book one in a series, but i should finish book 1 with a solid start to understanding the magic/lore. i have none of that after finishing this one. it does a poor job of grounding the reader in the world, mostly due to the constant pov switching. a lot of storylines should've been cut or adapted differently imo.
i appreciate what this book is trying to do. there's a ton of poc characters and people's sexualities and gender identities are varied and casually revealed. it's great! i understand it's a metaphor! but it's just executed! so! poorly! this book should have had a wayyyy smaller cast and should honestly have been grounded in like one pov only.
unfortunately, this was just not good. i wanted it to be over like a hundred pages from the end.
the book has a huge cast of characters, which is to its detriment. not only did we not stay with any character for a long time, i found that most of the storylines did not intersect in any meaningful way. no individual character or arc was given enough attention, and the novel as a whole just feels muddled. it doesn't help that we jump from person to person, and from past to present over and over again. i was straight up forgetting who people were.
the worldbuilding is also just. bad. each new reveal of either the magic or the lore made the previous knowledge make less sense, and it had me constantly asking questions. in a bad way. i get that this is book one in a series, but i should finish book 1 with a solid start to understanding the magic/lore. i have none of that after finishing this one. it does a poor job of grounding the reader in the world, mostly due to the constant pov switching. a lot of storylines should've been cut or adapted differently imo.
i appreciate what this book is trying to do. there's a ton of poc characters and people's sexualities and gender identities are varied and casually revealed. it's great! i understand it's a metaphor! but it's just executed! so! poorly! this book should have had a wayyyy smaller cast and should honestly have been grounded in like one pov only.
unfortunately, this was just not good. i wanted it to be over like a hundred pages from the end.
Didn't enjoy the narration, couldn't keep track of the story. I want to read it in paperback
This book pulls you in and doesn't let go! I read it in less than a week! Excellent story, characters, and writing! I hope this becomes a television show someday!
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated