You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
It is hard to review this book. Let's begin with this: I really, really liked it.
But like all first books in a series - and particularly with a fantasy series (it is so much easier with fiction, because the author doesn't have to establish the particulars of the world when it exists in our real world) - there is a lot of world-building, and character establishing (and this book introduces a HUGE number of core characters). That means that it is weighty, and at times a little slow. But it never felt like a slog.
There's a lot going on. Here's another thing to be upfront about: the core characters in this series are children. Abandoned, poor children who are living on the street. They are abused - and there are glimpses of sexual abuse, in addition to the expected physical/mental - and sometimes it is hard. But it is, imo, tastefully handled... accepted as a reality in their world, in a way which is, at its horrible core, true. To deny that these children would have to deal with this, in the shitty circumstances of their lives, would be to deny something that is critical in shaping them as the people they are. And it would deny something critical about what they need to either fold to - the rage, hate, fear - or overcome.
Michelle West/Sagara writes in a way that is ... it is hard to find good words. Ephemeral and non-linear in its narration. I love that about the Cast series (one of my favorites) and it is just as present here. You wander through the inner narration of characters, the lightning quick leaps of intuition or the meandering of emotion, with the occasional explosion of contrary anger, and it makes them real in a way that books seldom do. The voice in their head is so like my voice. Not linear. Not always rational. The past and the future mashed into a tangled knot that becomes the present.
I know it's not a thing that everyone likes - I've seen reviews complain about it in the Cast series - but it is generally a thing that I like very much. It is a tone of voice that is unique to her, in my experience - I've not seen any other author write this way. But it is not for everyone, and if you don't like it in the Cast series, you won't like it here. Also, as I've occasionally mentioned in the Cast series, sometimes it stretches too much. Like, in a critical moment, that you know happens over a handful of seconds, the character can have pages and pages of inner monologue as they respond to the situation / choose what to do / grasp for instinct. At its best, it makes me feel right in it. At its worst, it makes that moment drag, and deflates all the tension in the situation... because what is in reality a lightning-quick thing, feels like a decision made after days of discussion in a committee.
And both are present here, the best and the worst. But the good outweighs the bad by a mile, and I've already jumped into the second book. YMMV.
But like all first books in a series - and particularly with a fantasy series (it is so much easier with fiction, because the author doesn't have to establish the particulars of the world when it exists in our real world) - there is a lot of world-building, and character establishing (and this book introduces a HUGE number of core characters). That means that it is weighty, and at times a little slow. But it never felt like a slog.
There's a lot going on. Here's another thing to be upfront about: the core characters in this series are children. Abandoned, poor children who are living on the street. They are abused - and there are glimpses of sexual abuse, in addition to the expected physical/mental - and sometimes it is hard. But it is, imo, tastefully handled... accepted as a reality in their world, in a way which is, at its horrible core, true. To deny that these children would have to deal with this, in the shitty circumstances of their lives, would be to deny something that is critical in shaping them as the people they are. And it would deny something critical about what they need to either fold to - the rage, hate, fear - or overcome.
Michelle West/Sagara writes in a way that is ... it is hard to find good words. Ephemeral and non-linear in its narration. I love that about the Cast series (one of my favorites) and it is just as present here. You wander through the inner narration of characters, the lightning quick leaps of intuition or the meandering of emotion, with the occasional explosion of contrary anger, and it makes them real in a way that books seldom do. The voice in their head is so like my voice. Not linear. Not always rational. The past and the future mashed into a tangled knot that becomes the present.
I know it's not a thing that everyone likes - I've seen reviews complain about it in the Cast series - but it is generally a thing that I like very much. It is a tone of voice that is unique to her, in my experience - I've not seen any other author write this way. But it is not for everyone, and if you don't like it in the Cast series, you won't like it here. Also, as I've occasionally mentioned in the Cast series, sometimes it stretches too much. Like, in a critical moment, that you know happens over a handful of seconds, the character can have pages and pages of inner monologue as they respond to the situation / choose what to do / grasp for instinct. At its best, it makes me feel right in it. At its worst, it makes that moment drag, and deflates all the tension in the situation... because what is in reality a lightning-quick thing, feels like a decision made after days of discussion in a committee.
And both are present here, the best and the worst. But the good outweighs the bad by a mile, and I've already jumped into the second book. YMMV.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent
3.5 stars
This is a very complicated series because it is built around the sun sword series, with this series we go back to the beginning for Jewel, one of the MC's of the first series and we meet her at age 10 in this book. For such a young character she still has a lot of presence on the page, Jewel is seer-born a very rare trait and Rath finds her after she has stolen his money in the Commons, they have a conversation and he leaves her with the money. A few days later he returns without really thinking about what he's doing and finds her ill, he brings her home and nurses her back to health but during her delirium she warns him that he will be followed home after his meeting tonight and saves his life.
They begin to work together and Jewel keeps spontaneously bringing home other children that she's led to either by people she trusts or by her visions/nightmares. This is basically one big book on her gathering her Den(gang) and while I do feel about 100 pages here could have been chopped it's still interesting to see where she came from.
TW: rape and abuse
This is a very complicated series because it is built around the sun sword series, with this series we go back to the beginning for Jewel, one of the MC's of the first series and we meet her at age 10 in this book. For such a young character she still has a lot of presence on the page, Jewel is seer-born a very rare trait and Rath finds her after she has stolen his money in the Commons, they have a conversation and he leaves her with the money. A few days later he returns without really thinking about what he's doing and finds her ill, he brings her home and nurses her back to health but during her delirium she warns him that he will be followed home after his meeting tonight and saves his life.
They begin to work together and Jewel keeps spontaneously bringing home other children that she's led to either by people she trusts or by her visions/nightmares. This is basically one big book on her gathering her Den(gang) and while I do feel about 100 pages here could have been chopped it's still interesting to see where she came from.
TW: rape and abuse
I really liked this one up until the end. The ending was just too dark for my taste. Some of the language was too flowery, but it worked as an audiobook better than the ebook. There is a lot of repetition, especially of Jewel pushing her hair out of her face and Rath thinking about his sister. I wish Jewel and some of the children were a few years older.
Wow, was this overwritten. Fifteen words where one would have done, and it was incredibly repetitive. I was also heartily sick of her Oma, which is pretty impressive considering that she wasn’t even physically present.
And Jewel did not read as a ten year old. I don’t know if she had to be that age for continuity reasons—I haven’t read the other series that takes place in this world.
Another thing that caused some confusion for me was the lack of dialogue tags and too many pronouns—along the lines of “she did this she said that but she really didn’t see how she could feel that…” I had to reread some sections multiple times to figure out what was actually going on.
I found the whole situation with Duster ridiculous—it’s insane that Rath went along with it. It was just beyond suspension of belief. He’s going to help a ten year old set up a revenge killing/execution?
It also really seemed unlikely that Rath would be the _only_ one that knew about the tunnels under the city. It seems like someone from one of the Dens, at least, might have found one of the entrances?
I’m not even going to address Jewel’s rape at the end. The whole situation was based on bad decisions on top of more bad decisions, and was really unnecessary. We already know Waverly is a terrible person. That didn’t need to be there, unless it was for Rath’s “test?” That came out of nowhere.
I was excited to start a series with so many books in it, and I liked the Cast in… series, but the writing in this really turned me off to it—an editor should have chopped out a lot of the absolutely unnecessary verbiage. I started skipping paragraphs near the end. I might check out the next one in the hopes that gets better, but I need a break before that.
And Jewel did not read as a ten year old. I don’t know if she had to be that age for continuity reasons—I haven’t read the other series that takes place in this world.
Another thing that caused some confusion for me was the lack of dialogue tags and too many pronouns—along the lines of “she did this she said that but she really didn’t see how she could feel that…” I had to reread some sections multiple times to figure out what was actually going on.
I found the whole situation with Duster ridiculous—it’s insane that Rath went along with it. It was just beyond suspension of belief. He’s going to help a ten year old set up a revenge killing/execution?
It also really seemed unlikely that Rath would be the _only_ one that knew about the tunnels under the city. It seems like someone from one of the Dens, at least, might have found one of the entrances?
I’m not even going to address Jewel’s rape at the end. The whole situation was based on bad decisions on top of more bad decisions, and was really unnecessary. We already know Waverly is a terrible person. That didn’t need to be there, unless it was for Rath’s “test?” That came out of nowhere.
I was excited to start a series with so many books in it, and I liked the Cast in… series, but the writing in this really turned me off to it—an editor should have chopped out a lot of the absolutely unnecessary verbiage. I started skipping paragraphs near the end. I might check out the next one in the hopes that gets better, but I need a break before that.
DNF.
Man, this book stated out with such promise and then dropped into the toilet. Will not be reading book 2.
Man, this book stated out with such promise and then dropped into the toilet. Will not be reading book 2.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are no spoilers in this review, though I do discuss my feelings about the ending.
---
I'm reading the entire Essalieyan series with a book club. This is the first.
And it might be the last.
Don't get me wrong, I loved this story a lot. I loved the slow approach to letting us get to know the key characters - Rath, the old disguiser and thief, and Jewel (Jay), the very young orphan who begins to collect a family of other orphans off the streets against Raths' better judgement. I loved the world, a faux-medieval fantasy city-scape full of secrets to discover and explore and wonder at, as well as enemies great and small to test ones mettle on.
To me, this felt like the beginnings of the Lies of Locke Lamora, but more refined, more gentle, and ultimately more detailed with no bait-and-switch as to what the story was about. I appreciated all of it far more in The Hidden City.
The second half of the story took a turn I was not expecting. At first, I didn't mind it, but then it was clear what the ending was building up to. And then, while the gist of the most egregious parts of the ending took place off screen, I do not understand why the author sought to not just have most of the orphans, but also our key main character, wounded in the way that she choose. To me it speaks more of the time period that this book was written in, rather than in any literary merits. I won't go so far as to say that the ending ruined the story for me (in fact, I'm still rating this book as 5/5 stars - phenomenal), but it leaves me feeling unhappy, unsatisfied, and unsure if I want to continue reading.
---
I'm reading the entire Essalieyan series with a book club. This is the first.
And it might be the last.
Don't get me wrong, I loved this story a lot. I loved the slow approach to letting us get to know the key characters - Rath, the old disguiser and thief, and Jewel (Jay), the very young orphan who begins to collect a family of other orphans off the streets against Raths' better judgement. I loved the world, a faux-medieval fantasy city-scape full of secrets to discover and explore and wonder at, as well as enemies great and small to test ones mettle on.
To me, this felt like the beginnings of the Lies of Locke Lamora, but more refined, more gentle, and ultimately more detailed with no bait-and-switch as to what the story was about. I appreciated all of it far more in The Hidden City.
The second half of the story took a turn I was not expecting. At first, I didn't mind it, but then it was clear what the ending was building up to. And then, while the gist of the most egregious parts of the ending took place off screen, I do not understand why the author sought to not just have most of the orphans, but also our key main character, wounded in the way that she choose. To me it speaks more of the time period that this book was written in, rather than in any literary merits. I won't go so far as to say that the ending ruined the story for me (in fact, I'm still rating this book as 5/5 stars - phenomenal), but it leaves me feeling unhappy, unsatisfied, and unsure if I want to continue reading.