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oneandonlybuddha's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
arijitnag's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
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
4.5
chenisejones's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
annalise's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
biliboc_diana_simona's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
forgetfulwords's review
The characters, especially the main character, felt immature and petty
gray_05_sea's review
2.5
I have mixed feelings. It was slow to start, but at no point did I consider giving up. I wanted to know what happened. However, there were two main things that bothered me. The narrator voice rang false - Richard Swan must have a low opinion of woman. I also hated the insta-love plot- there was no reason for her to love Matas, so her love of him and his death felt like a plot device. The second part that bothered me was a poor marriage of political intrigue and detective story. I find it hard to believe that in the face of armies being stood up and the potential fall of an empire, a political actor would say “no, I really need to solve this insignificant woman’s murder first, who mostly merits the name of ‘Bauer’s wife’”. The character development across the board struck me as false; and I don’t think I will read the rest of the series.
steelfern's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
a truly compelling mystery set within some really wonderful, interesting world building.
ngallion's review
4.0
Very interesting combination of murder mystery, fantasy, and political thriller. One of the main characters feels a lot like a hybrid of Aragorn and Poirot and that works a lot better than you may initially think. The biggest strike against this book in my mind is that it’s doing the thing where a seemingly basic plot point actually has world-changing ramifications. Because of that, the book has to balance empire-wide politics and micro-level storytelling, which is a difficult task to pull off. To be clear, I think this book does it pretty well, but I always felt like the book would be more enjoyable if it could dice completely into either stream. I suspect that book 2 will be exactly that, though, and I’m looking forward to reading it.