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lilyjoyner's review
3.0
hummm... it hard to voice my opinions on this, but it happened so fast. I feel like only have a clear picture of like 2 of the characters. The end was so rushed.
verypeculiarpages's review
2.0
*eARC provided by publisher. All opinions are my own.*
BEAUTIFUL FRICKIN’ COVER. Sadly, I just wasn’t into this book. I read something about this being Phantom of the Opera-esque but I really didn’t pick up on that at all, besides the singing aspect and murder??
I did like the idea of using song as weapon and such, but the worldbuilding just felt a bit weak at times. The plot sort of meanders for a majority of the book until the very end when everything is rushed together and wrapped up VERY quickly. I also didn’t really feel much of an attachment to any of the characters. I enjoy seeing more F/F romance, especially in YA fantasy, but Cadence and Remi’s relationship didn’t feel like it had much substance and growth. Disappointed because I felt like this could’ve been really cool if the plot had been a bit more interesting! 2.5
BEAUTIFUL FRICKIN’ COVER. Sadly, I just wasn’t into this book. I read something about this being Phantom of the Opera-esque but I really didn’t pick up on that at all, besides the singing aspect and murder??
I did like the idea of using song as weapon and such, but the worldbuilding just felt a bit weak at times. The plot sort of meanders for a majority of the book until the very end when everything is rushed together and wrapped up VERY quickly. I also didn’t really feel much of an attachment to any of the characters. I enjoy seeing more F/F romance, especially in YA fantasy, but Cadence and Remi’s relationship didn’t feel like it had much substance and growth. Disappointed because I felt like this could’ve been really cool if the plot had been a bit more interesting! 2.5
nayabimtiaz's review
4.0
It started reallyyyyy intense and with an unique and an amazing concept. It stayed intense till around 70% in. After then it was just a downward spiral. The ending seemed rushed and confusing af. I'm low key disappointed but it was still one of the most brilliant books. Sapphics all the way ✌
laurenmiller100's review
1.75
Mediocre. One of the main characters is incredibly annoying and childish. The magic system is cool, but not worth the time.
- Characters 1
- Atmosphere/Setting 6
- Writing Style 3
- Plot 3
- Intrigue 4
- Logic/Relationships 4
- Enjoyment 2
fablemoon's review
3.0
★★★✩✩ - I enjoyed this book, but something about it was lacking.
I'd like to preface that while it's described here on goodreads as a "romantic fantasy" this is NOT a soft romantic cozy fantasy. Is it a fantasy? Yes. Is it romantic? Sure. But the world of Ruinsong is a cruel one, so I'd like to supply trigger warnings for those who may need them: Emotional and physical abuse, torture, animal torture and death.
Quick Gist - The story revolves around Cadence, a mage, who was trained and is eventually employed by the queen to do her bidding against Cadence's will. She helps the populace of her city in her free time as best as she can, but she always finds herself in a bit of a situation. She encounters a childhood friend along the way and a romance blooms along with a rebellion.
The Good - I LOVED the magic system! Overall Ruinsong was a decent fantasy read with a nice touch of LGBT representation.
The Bad - I don't regret reading this book by any means, but it did have a few major issues that I feel really need to be talked about.
The biggest one was the weirdly specific use of "Black" and "White" descriptions for characters that felt entirely unnecessary and honestly kinda yucky. It was also often the only main descriptive characteristic we'd receive for a character. Otherwise we did get one single taste of really beautifully descriptive character imagery, but it was unfortunately just kinda thrown into the middle of the book and that was it, that was the only one.
The pacing of the book was great at first, but it felt incredibly rushed towards the end. We never find out about some side characters that were important in the first half of the book. Then suddenly the climax hits and the book is over in what feels like 3 pages(in a bad way). I think the author tried her best to cleanly wrap it all up, but In the end I found myself fairly disappointed in the last quarter of the book.
Overview - I wouldn't NOT recommend this read... you just need to be aware it has some major issues up front. I'd say overall it's a bit of a mixed bag, but still worth adding to your reading list anyways.
I'd like to preface that while it's described here on goodreads as a "romantic fantasy" this is NOT a soft romantic cozy fantasy. Is it a fantasy? Yes. Is it romantic? Sure. But the world of Ruinsong is a cruel one, so I'd like to supply trigger warnings for those who may need them: Emotional and physical abuse, torture, animal torture and death.
Quick Gist - The story revolves around Cadence, a mage, who was trained and is eventually employed by the queen to do her bidding against Cadence's will. She helps the populace of her city in her free time as best as she can, but she always finds herself in a bit of a situation. She encounters a childhood friend along the way and a romance blooms along with a rebellion.
The Good - I LOVED the magic system! Overall Ruinsong was a decent fantasy read with a nice touch of LGBT representation.
The Bad - I don't regret reading this book by any means, but it did have a few major issues that I feel really need to be talked about.
The biggest one was the weirdly specific use of "Black" and "White" descriptions for characters that felt entirely unnecessary and honestly kinda yucky. It was also often the only main descriptive characteristic we'd receive for a character. Otherwise we did get one single taste of really beautifully descriptive character imagery, but it was unfortunately just kinda thrown into the middle of the book and that was it, that was the only one.
The pacing of the book was great at first, but it felt incredibly rushed towards the end. We never find out about some side characters that were important in the first half of the book. Then suddenly the climax hits and the book is over in what feels like 3 pages(in a bad way). I think the author tried her best to cleanly wrap it all up, but In the end I found myself fairly disappointed in the last quarter of the book.
Overview - I wouldn't NOT recommend this read... you just need to be aware it has some major issues up front. I'd say overall it's a bit of a mixed bag, but still worth adding to your reading list anyways.
luna_rondo's review
3.0
This is probably closer to a 2.5.
I'm not sure if reading would be different, but the audiobook narrator used the same voice for everything. It didn't help that there were two POVs and both first person, so if I didn't check who's chapter it was, I wouldn't know until a name was said.
I'm not sure if reading would be different, but the audiobook narrator used the same voice for everything. It didn't help that there were two POVs and both first person, so if I didn't check who's chapter it was, I wouldn't know until a name was said.
Spoiler
Also, does Candence seriously cure cancer with singing? Like seriously. Did I hear that with my own ears.kitkat13's review against another edition
adventurous
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
caylieratzlaff's review
3.0
I really wasn't sure what to expect. I read the synopsis and saw the cover and was like YES. Honestly, this is pretty unique in the YA fantasy genre, and I'm all for it. The singing as magic with different mage classes was a nice refresh to the typical magic systems. I also 10/10 appreciate the W/W sapphic pairing in it. That's not often in YA.
I only could give it 3 stars though. The overall plot was crafted fine, but it needed more solid world building to truly be a ~ good ~ fantasy novel.
I only could give it 3 stars though. The overall plot was crafted fine, but it needed more solid world building to truly be a ~ good ~ fantasy novel.
kmoore98's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I just wish there were more world building. I think this would have gone much better if the events were spread between two books and were more fleshed out. I thought the concept and the idea of mages were really interesting in this book and I wanted to be able to learn more about them and that just was not there for me.