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angelofthetardis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The second in the 'Five Crowns of Okrith' series, this story follows the second surviving Dammacus sister, Rua, as she remains behind at the Northern Court with its new King, Renwick, the Witchslayer, to counter a new threat and learn to deal with the darkness inside her.
As with book one, this is everything you'd expect from a standard romantasy book, so if you're looking for groundbreaking, probably best to go elsewhere. But for a continuation of an easy reading, reliable, engaging story, this checks all the boxes. It does get off to a bit of a slow start, but this improves as you settle in, aided by the writer's clear style - she uses each scene to illustrate the development of relationships between her characters, rather than to draw focus to action-packed moments, so while it's not a pacy book, by the end you feel can feel the characters' feelings with them, even if you don't like them that much.
I say that last specifically about Rua. Apologies for the obvious comparison, but she comes across to me very much like Nesta in ACOTAR; grumpy, moan-y and with no idea how to see past her own woes. But, where Nesta has been given a beautiful redemption arc, the depth for Rua is missing. It's odd, because while everything flows well and it doesn't come as a surprise, her self-discovery feels like a simple plot contrivance rather than actual development. I believe she could be a much stronger character with further time and energy put into her, but as it is the story definitely works, just not as well as it could. On the other hand, I feel like Renwick's character is fully fleshed out and I love the little twists he brings to the tale.
I am beginning to see Okrith and the Courts more as the series progresses, and the worldbuilding and description in this book make the Northern Court camp in particular a lot easier to picture. But overall I would say that, while certain settings are drawn out to the level of detail they deserve, it is still quite hard to immerse myself fully into the land and imagine myself within the story.
I did enjoy and am happy to continue the series, but don't think it'll be for a while as my library service doesn't carry the rest... ☹️
As with book one, this is everything you'd expect from a standard romantasy book, so if you're looking for groundbreaking, probably best to go elsewhere. But for a continuation of an easy reading, reliable, engaging story, this checks all the boxes. It does get off to a bit of a slow start, but this improves as you settle in, aided by the writer's clear style - she uses each scene to illustrate the development of relationships between her characters, rather than to draw focus to action-packed moments, so while it's not a pacy book, by the end you feel can feel the characters' feelings with them, even if you don't like them that much.
I say that last specifically about Rua. Apologies for the obvious comparison, but she comes across to me very much like Nesta in ACOTAR; grumpy, moan-y and with no idea how to see past her own woes. But, where Nesta has been given a beautiful redemption arc, the depth for Rua is missing. It's odd, because while everything flows well and it doesn't come as a surprise, her self-discovery feels like a simple plot contrivance rather than actual development. I believe she could be a much stronger character with further time and energy put into her, but as it is the story definitely works, just not as well as it could. On the other hand, I feel like Renwick's character is fully fleshed out and I love the little twists he brings to the tale.
I am beginning to see Okrith and the Courts more as the series progresses, and the worldbuilding and description in this book make the Northern Court camp in particular a lot easier to picture. But overall I would say that, while certain settings are drawn out to the level of detail they deserve, it is still quite hard to immerse myself fully into the land and imagine myself within the story.
I did enjoy and am happy to continue the series, but don't think it'll be for a while as my library service doesn't carry the rest... ☹️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Sexual content, War, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Slavery
aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
I liked this more than the first book because a) the MC had a much more complex character development/arc/intricacies and b) the overall world plot was much more interesting, though the big plot twist was a bit obvious
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug use, and Grief
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