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okevamae's review
4.0
Dev is a spy in the service of her monarch, under the command of her mother, the Whisperer, a spymaster whose approval and love Dev can never seem to win. When the dangerous Mist is encroaching on her homeland, Dev is sent on a dangerous undercover mission to their estranged sister country, there to kidnap their rival city’s strongest magic user and save her home from destruction.
I really enjoyed this book! It had an interesting magic system and great characters – but my favorite part was the friendships that Dev has with Lochlan, Alyse and Milla. Those relationships are key to her finding herself, finding acceptance, and summoning the strength to stop seeking her mother’s approval and do what’s right.
Representation: nonbinary character
I really enjoyed this book! It had an interesting magic system and great characters – but my favorite part was the friendships that Dev has with Lochlan, Alyse and Milla. Those relationships are key to her finding herself, finding acceptance, and summoning the strength to stop seeking her mother’s approval and do what’s right.
Representation: nonbinary character
bmzhang's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Flew through it, love a standalone without a cliffhanger. Definitely written very YA, the storytelling was very on the nose. I did love the LGBT aspects. The end felt a bit rushed but it was buttoned up ok.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
3.0
3.5/5
Ok I really enjoyed this book. I loved the world and the characters as well as the magic system that was set up. My only problem is that I felt like the story was rushed and I felt there wasn't enough time to really know the characters.
Ok I really enjoyed this book. I loved the world and the characters as well as the magic system that was set up. My only problem is that I felt like the story was rushed and I felt there wasn't enough time to really know the characters.
schizogleek's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brownwall268's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved this book! The friendships were very sweet and engaging and there were a lot of characters I really liked! Also, as an Aroace person I enjoyed that there was no focus on romance!
stacyaj's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alongreader's review
3.0
It's a mixed review in bullet points! I have a lot of thoughts about this one and I think bullet points are the way to go.
Love the descriptions. The broken down, war torn country; the prosperous country beside it; the mists, the people, the outfits. Everything is amazing.
Seriously, the contrasts between Aris and Cerena are unbelievable.
I couldn't really get a handle on Dev. Her character seemed to flip flop a lot.
Speaking of Dev, and this one is important enough that I'm taking it out of the bullet points;
This was advertised as having an Ace main character. Dev doesn't have a romantic relationship, and she thinks, once, something along the lines of "If I were attracted to girls, or anybody, I'd be attracted to her." That's literally it. Have we really reached the point where no explicit romance is enough to label something as Ace? There's no romance in Thor: Ragnarok. Are they all Ace as well? I love that publishers are trying to include more gender and sexual preferences but it's got to be better than this.
Right. Back to the bullet points.
Magic system; cool but not explained well enough.
Different versions of the same story in different countries; A plus! Of course it would happen that way.
Seriously the descriptions of Dev's disguise dresses, may I have please?
Love the thought and work that's clearly gone into these countries and their backstories, but it's not explained to the reader well enough.
Why is the plan "gain your target's trust, do a thing that will immediately destroy that trust, then kidnap her" ? Surely those steps are a bit out of order?
It's not a bad read all in all. A lot of thought has clearly gone into it. But the mislabeling really sticks in my craw, and I think the story needed to be clearer. I do hope it does well though, and I hope Emily writes more, she's clearly got the imagination for it.
Love the descriptions. The broken down, war torn country; the prosperous country beside it; the mists, the people, the outfits. Everything is amazing.
Seriously, the contrasts between Aris and Cerena are unbelievable.
I couldn't really get a handle on Dev. Her character seemed to flip flop a lot.
Speaking of Dev, and this one is important enough that I'm taking it out of the bullet points;
This was advertised as having an Ace main character. Dev doesn't have a romantic relationship, and she thinks, once, something along the lines of "If I were attracted to girls, or anybody, I'd be attracted to her." That's literally it. Have we really reached the point where no explicit romance is enough to label something as Ace? There's no romance in Thor: Ragnarok. Are they all Ace as well? I love that publishers are trying to include more gender and sexual preferences but it's got to be better than this.
Right. Back to the bullet points.
Magic system; cool but not explained well enough.
Different versions of the same story in different countries; A plus! Of course it would happen that way.
Seriously the descriptions of Dev's disguise dresses, may I have please?
Love the thought and work that's clearly gone into these countries and their backstories, but it's not explained to the reader well enough.
Why is the plan "gain your target's trust, do a thing that will immediately destroy that trust, then kidnap her" ? Surely those steps are a bit out of order?
It's not a bad read all in all. A lot of thought has clearly gone into it. But the mislabeling really sticks in my craw, and I think the story needed to be clearer. I do hope it does well though, and I hope Emily writes more, she's clearly got the imagination for it.
hilasaurus's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.25
just_a_harmless_potato's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It started of really slow and took me a while to actually get into it but once I did it was good