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much_ado_about_mothman's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.75
helena_g_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
⭐️: 3.75 / 5
“ ‘You are a feast,’ he told her, ‘and I, my sweet, am ravenous—’ “
➡️ linear timeline
👥 POV: multiple POV
🐌 Pace: slow
💭 The story follows a number of characters
What I liked:
- Witches and the system controlling them
- Tormalin and Vintage’s banter
- If you wish there were a scientific examination of a fantasy setting this is the book for you
What I wasn’t a fan of
- The pacing is numbingly slow
I really struggled to get into this book. To the point I had to transition to the audio to get through most of it. The book didn’t pick up until 75% in and personally that felt like it was too late in the story to be finally capturing a readers attention.
⚠️ violence
ilex_cs's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
patchworkculture's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
fratnanny's review
2.0
I don't know what this book was trying to be. Fantasy? Steampunk? Sci-fi? It really was very messy. Nothing worked for me, and the book is not cohesive. Maybe it's me?
aimeeinwonderland's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
pandoozled14's review against another edition
DNF @ 52%. Far enough to count for the reading challenge I’m doing, but if I log it as a DNF the book doesn’t show as read :/
liri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
rwatkins's review
4.0
I really liked it. Overall: 4/5 (19/25)
I would put this under weird fantasy, with a unique blend of sci-fi, adventure and romantic fantasy tropes. If you like alien invasions, vampiric elves or witch prisons, then give this a read. A creative world with engaging characters, interesting complications and delightfully unexpected creatures. The journey towards the Ninth Rain meanders a little but worth sticking with.
Minor Spoilers Below.
Plot: 3.5/5
An adventure fantasy, the plot is about the journey leading up to the Ninth Rain, a promise presented by the title. This journey mostly follows a trio researching and exploring the old crash sites of metallic alien beings that also served as massive spaceships. The end is setup for the next book in the series, so don't expect a clean wrapup to the story.
There is a slow-burning romantic subplot that worked pretty well.
The exploration sections aren't the cleanest, sometimes feeling a bit rushed. Other times, the information being gathered feels a bit repetitive. Characters will piece together conclusions from clues that I had thought they already figured out at an earlier exploration site, so it didn't flow as smooth as I would have liked.
Otherwise, it was a fun journey with a bunch of weird ideas that come together creatively and oddly somehow manage to work.
Characters: 4/5
There are three main characters, with Noon and Vintage getting a little more focus and development than Tormalin.
Noon is a mage who makes an opportunity to escape a literal witch prison. She stumbles into joining Vin and Tal as they explore these old battle sites while trying to evade the witch-hunter sent to track her down. Only knowing torture and isolation, she is slow to trust, and her internal arc reflecting this was pretty solid character work.
Vin is a researcher who gets a little too caught up in her work. She is caring at times, but also has her selfish moments, making her pretty dynamic. She has a convincing motive for unraveling the mysteries of these dead war machines and why she's so dedicated to her pursuits, but this motivation doesn't become fruitful until pretty late in the book.
Tor is a member of a vampiric, haughty, elflike race (minus the pointy ears). He is Vin's bodyguard and a sex freak on the side. His people face extinction, but he is more interested in drinking and screwing as much as he can before his time comes. I hate the character who wines about everything, and this is THAT GUY. He seriously whines if he's not screwing and drunk every single night. Finding his path to caring about his people happens suddenly and doesn't feel like a gradual change or an earned arc, just something needed for the plot.
Secondary characters were pretty forgettable and underwhelming, except for Agent Lin, who was given a motive and added layer of sympathy.
Setting: 5/5
Dead alien constructs litter the land. A witch prison. Parasite spirit jellyfish monsters roaming about, evaporating people with their tendril hands. Vampiric elves. There are so many weird, seemingly random things thrown in here to create an astonishingly creative world. These things should not all work together, yet they do. The sense of imagination and wonder with every new creature, location, and story element really drove my interest to keep reading, more than the story or style.
Some worldbuilding pieces were left only half-developed, such as a possible magical sword, that I hope are further utilized or returned to in future books.
Style: 3.5/5
I had a lot of likes and dislikes to Williams' style, and because she is so bold with her choices, I think this may hold true for many readers.
The strongest aspect is the imagination and creativity leaping off of every page. I already raved about this in Setting. Cool ideas will get included, regardless of genre-bending or logical sense.
I'm not a romantic fantasy reader but I thought the romance subplot was done pretty well. I didn't love the blood-letting aspect, not my kink, but the romance itself worked.
The pacing meanders a bit during the exploration/journey portions, then really ramps up near the climax. Jen does not dwell on action, so expect confrontations to be brief.
The epigraphs were long and mostly expositional, some of which repeating information revealed in the story anyway. A hefty number of pages are dedicated to these epigraphs, and also some dream sequences, all meaningless filler to me.
Themes: 3/5
This is more of a fun book than a thematic one.
Learning to trust again, persecution of women with power, finding purpose, and fixing or making up for past mistakes are some of the themes explored. Jen plays with prophecy, dreams, lost history, and explores fearing and understanding the unknown. Not a lot of depth to these themes, but they're there if you look for them.
I would put this under weird fantasy, with a unique blend of sci-fi, adventure and romantic fantasy tropes. If you like alien invasions, vampiric elves or witch prisons, then give this a read. A creative world with engaging characters, interesting complications and delightfully unexpected creatures. The journey towards the Ninth Rain meanders a little but worth sticking with.
Minor Spoilers Below.
Plot: 3.5/5
An adventure fantasy, the plot is about the journey leading up to the Ninth Rain, a promise presented by the title. This journey mostly follows a trio researching and exploring the old crash sites of metallic alien beings that also served as massive spaceships. The end is setup for the next book in the series, so don't expect a clean wrapup to the story.
There is a slow-burning romantic subplot that worked pretty well.
The exploration sections aren't the cleanest, sometimes feeling a bit rushed. Other times, the information being gathered feels a bit repetitive. Characters will piece together conclusions from clues that I had thought they already figured out at an earlier exploration site, so it didn't flow as smooth as I would have liked.
Otherwise, it was a fun journey with a bunch of weird ideas that come together creatively and oddly somehow manage to work.
Characters: 4/5
There are three main characters, with Noon and Vintage getting a little more focus and development than Tormalin.
Noon is a mage who makes an opportunity to escape a literal witch prison. She stumbles into joining Vin and Tal as they explore these old battle sites while trying to evade the witch-hunter sent to track her down. Only knowing torture and isolation, she is slow to trust, and her internal arc reflecting this was pretty solid character work.
Vin is a researcher who gets a little too caught up in her work. She is caring at times, but also has her selfish moments, making her pretty dynamic. She has a convincing motive for unraveling the mysteries of these dead war machines and why she's so dedicated to her pursuits, but this motivation doesn't become fruitful until pretty late in the book.
Tor is a member of a vampiric, haughty, elflike race (minus the pointy ears). He is Vin's bodyguard and a sex freak on the side. His people face extinction, but he is more interested in drinking and screwing as much as he can before his time comes. I hate the character who wines about everything, and this is THAT GUY. He seriously whines if he's not screwing and drunk every single night. Finding his path to caring about his people happens suddenly and doesn't feel like a gradual change or an earned arc, just something needed for the plot.
Secondary characters were pretty forgettable and underwhelming, except for Agent Lin, who was given a motive and added layer of sympathy.
Setting: 5/5
Dead alien constructs litter the land. A witch prison. Parasite spirit jellyfish monsters roaming about, evaporating people with their tendril hands. Vampiric elves. There are so many weird, seemingly random things thrown in here to create an astonishingly creative world. These things should not all work together, yet they do. The sense of imagination and wonder with every new creature, location, and story element really drove my interest to keep reading, more than the story or style.
Some worldbuilding pieces were left only half-developed, such as a possible magical sword, that I hope are further utilized or returned to in future books.
Style: 3.5/5
I had a lot of likes and dislikes to Williams' style, and because she is so bold with her choices, I think this may hold true for many readers.
The strongest aspect is the imagination and creativity leaping off of every page. I already raved about this in Setting. Cool ideas will get included, regardless of genre-bending or logical sense.
I'm not a romantic fantasy reader but I thought the romance subplot was done pretty well. I didn't love the blood-letting aspect, not my kink, but the romance itself worked.
The pacing meanders a bit during the exploration/journey portions, then really ramps up near the climax. Jen does not dwell on action, so expect confrontations to be brief.
The epigraphs were long and mostly expositional, some of which repeating information revealed in the story anyway. A hefty number of pages are dedicated to these epigraphs, and also some dream sequences, all meaningless filler to me.
Themes: 3/5
This is more of a fun book than a thematic one.
Learning to trust again, persecution of women with power, finding purpose, and fixing or making up for past mistakes are some of the themes explored. Jen plays with prophecy, dreams, lost history, and explores fearing and understanding the unknown. Not a lot of depth to these themes, but they're there if you look for them.