Reviews

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

hoffnungswolke's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

reread thoughts:

This was even better the second time around.

I reread this to prepare myself for finally reading the second book, and I was surprised how much I still remembered, so much that a reread wasn't even necessary. I don't regret it, tho.

I just love these characters so much, not all equally but they are all fleshed out and layered as fuck. 
The betrayals still got to me, even though I knew they were coming.

Yes, this book has a few pacing issues but I still love it a lot, those last few chapters are a roller coaster ride.

This time around I'm gonna start the 2nd book quickly.

***

THIS BOOK.
THE WORLD BUILDING. THE WRITING. THE CHARACTERS.
THE BETRAYELS. THE TWISTS.

I'm loosing my mind over this book!!!

archane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lucsadeline's review against another edition

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2.0

This book literally had so much potential, while the idea was great and I liked certain aspects of it the author wrote it as though we knew everything about this world beforehand. The magic system was so complicated, the book started off with so much politics and there was no introduction to any of it. The two points of view were so difficult to catch onto but once you did, the pov would switch. I just wish there was more clarification earlier in the book because this could've been an amazing read.

kcooke159's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

shancarr's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

crypticspren's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book. It had great promise and an interesting world. However, the overall lore remained tragically underdeveloped and the pacing was so off... It took 100 pages for anything to get going or make any sense, and in the last 50 pages everything that could have possibly happened did and it was a bit of a mess.

I'm giving it 3 stars for the interesting premise and magic system, but I think the world is very underdeveloped and the story needed communicating better. 

lsparrow's review against another edition

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1.0

one of those books I started reading and miss laid for a month and had to start over when i found it.
I found it one of those books that had too much detail that I didn't quite understand and too much double crossing intrigue. I found I never knew what was going on and so was never really able to get into the book.

jennderqueer's review against another edition

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3.5

I had some issues with this one, but overall it was decent. I felt like the main characters were too flawed; the main villain was a little overpowered in terms of magic, and the pacing was not 100%. Overall the plot was good though and I liked the book. I'll read the sequel.

amybraunauthor's review against another edition

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4.0

I was super excited to read this book and can definitely say it was not what I expected! It's been a while since I've encountered a denser, more complex system of magic. The story is filled with memorable characters, detailed world building, and told with a very strong author voice.

The two main characters could not be more different. Jazmyne is focused and driven by duty, whereas Ira is more passionate and uncontrolled. I love the contrast between the girls, both of whom have strengths and flaws, but Ira's sassy humour and bold nature made her my favourite. The side characters are a ton of fun, especially the love interest/friend Kirdan, who has more than a few secrets and tricks up his sleeve.

The magic and world building is incredibly detailed and forces the reader to pay attention and remember terms. The author does a very good job with the age-old technique of show don't tell: what the character knows must feel natural. And I have to say, the fantasy elements are wholly unique to the genre, and create fresh and thrilling action scenes.

However, this is also where I hit a bit of a snag. Given how many terms are used, introduced, and spread out, it was a bit of a challenge for me to understand what was happening, why things worked, and how they looked. I got a bit lost in some sections and struggled to find some of the setting.

This also led to a little confusion in the plot. I had a general idea of what was happening, but some choices, especially those around Ira and who she interacted with, didn't quite make sense to me at the time. In hindsight, I think it worked wonderfully, and I truly loved the ending. I just think there needed to be a few more anchors in certain scenes.

Again, these are only my opinions, and despite my struggles, I found plenty to enjoy here. This is a powerful debut and I truly believe that Smart's career will grow and excel. She has a powerful writing voice, a vivid imagination, and put tons of thought and passion into this project. It is a great book for anyone who respects and wants to uplift Black culture, and is a must read if you love rich, detail-oriented fantasy.

sydney_arcuri's review against another edition

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4.0

4/5
Okay, I am going to be completely honest- I almost marked this book as dnf. BUT I'm glad I kept going. The beginning started off super strong and I immediately fell in love with the characters, then the middle kinda fell flat and wasn't as action packed as the beginning, but then the last 150 pages really picked up and matched that of the beginning of the book. This was the main reason I rated it 4/5 because all the other aspects I really enjoyed.