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foxwish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
I adored all of our POV characters, Allegra, Lex and Stanton were all amazing and felt well rounded. Some great humour in this too and chemistry between our leads, strong themes of loyalty and it was a wonderful surprise that one of our POV characters is trans.
I think the characterisations for some of our side characters, including Dodd, were weaker and it is impossible to see a certain character the General as anything but purely evil at this point in the story.
Ball draws parallels between the plight of mages/elementals in her story and those of a trans person, there is a great deal of empathy shown by our main characters and that ultimately is what made me love this book.
We get the classic idea of enslaved mages rebelling contrasted by having a gay married pope and trans soldier be perfectly acceptable in the same world, Ball makes it all work together.
There is a slowburn romance in this book as a secondary plot to the issue of the mage rebellions, I think the two characters are great together, but I did get frustrated at them for not getting together sooner than they did. Be assured that they do eventually talk about their feelings though and there are a couple short sex scenes.
I think the characterisations for some of our side characters, including Dodd, were weaker and it is impossible to see a certain character
Ball draws parallels between the plight of mages/elementals in her story and those of a trans person, there is a great deal of empathy shown by our main characters and that ultimately is what made me love this book.
We get the classic idea of enslaved mages rebelling contrasted by having a gay married pope and trans soldier be perfectly acceptable in the same world, Ball makes it all work together.
There is a slowburn romance in this book as a secondary plot to the issue of the mage rebellions, I think the two characters are great together, but I did get frustrated at them for not getting together sooner than they did. Be assured that they do eventually talk about their feelings though and there are a couple short sex scenes.
The Negatives:
If you are reading this book hoping for a clearly laid out magic system, this is not for you. Ball lays out the basics, but we never learn about the specifics of the powers of mages/elementals or exactly how they do magic.
The book slowed down too much for me about halfway through, but the final act of the story is easily the best part of the book.
The phrase "witch bitch" as a slur seemed somewhat unbelievable to me and I had a hard time taking it seriously.
My final note is that although there is a cliffhanger at the end of the book, I don't think it is as bad as others have said. However if you are invested in the romance and the greater plot of the mage war then you will want to pick up the next book by the end.
The book slowed down too much for me about halfway through, but the final act of the story is easily the best part of the book.
The phrase "witch bitch" as a slur seemed somewhat unbelievable to me and I had a hard time taking it seriously.
My final note is that although there is a cliffhanger at the end of the book, I don't think it is as bad as others have said. However if you are invested in the romance and the greater plot of the mage war then you will want to pick up the next book by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Sexism, Cursing, Violence, and Slavery
Minor: Abortion
scholarly_pigeon's review
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Sexism
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