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offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a decent fantasy romance book. I didn’t absolutely love it, but I will probably read the sequel.
The world building was decent, though the explanation of soul magic was a bit confusing and hard to follow. There was some info-dumping at the beginning which always turns me off a bit, but it wasn’t unforgivable.
I thought the plot was somewhat rushed, and I especially thought the romance was built up too quickly and didn’t feel real to me. I like when the author makes me work for it haha
I was disappointed that mermaids weren’t more involved in the plot.
In one sentence, I would say the book has a similar vibe to a Court of Thorns and Roses, but not as good.
Spice level: 🌶🌶/5
Specific to the audiobook:
I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely love audiobooks, so a negative review is rare from me. Unfortunately, I strongly disliked the narration of this book and would recommend skipping the audiobook. The narrator seemed too focused on creating different voices for each character, and ended up making most of them sounds incredibly annoying…I also noticed some weird editing where it was obvious that different takes had been spliced together. Finally, the narrator’s constant pronunciation of silent G’s grated my nerves the entire book. (“ding-Guh-y”, “sing-Guh-ing”, etc).
The world building was decent, though the explanation of soul magic was a bit confusing and hard to follow. There was some info-dumping at the beginning which always turns me off a bit, but it wasn’t unforgivable.
I thought the plot was somewhat rushed, and I especially thought the romance was built up too quickly and didn’t feel real to me. I like when the author makes me work for it haha
I was disappointed that mermaids weren’t more involved in the plot.
In one sentence, I would say the book has a similar vibe to a Court of Thorns and Roses, but not as good.
Spice level: 🌶🌶/5
Specific to the audiobook:
I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely love audiobooks, so a negative review is rare from me. Unfortunately, I strongly disliked the narration of this book and would recommend skipping the audiobook. The narrator seemed too focused on creating different voices for each character, and ended up making most of them sounds incredibly annoying…I also noticed some weird editing where it was obvious that different takes had been spliced together. Finally, the narrator’s constant pronunciation of silent G’s grated my nerves the entire book. (“ding-Guh-y”, “sing-Guh-ing”, etc).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Torture
Moderate: Violence, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Slavery, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, War, Death of parent, Death, Trafficking, Medical content, and Alcohol
katreadswaytoomuch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I really disappointed that this didn’t turn out as I expected it to. The concept was there, but the execution was not.
There were a lot of characters used mostly has plot devices and had no real value in my opinion. The MC is self-righteous, exercises almost no strategic planning, and believes in her divine right to rule. Overall, I found her horribly unlikeable.
The main antagonist also has the same savior complex as the mc, but his motivations are unconvincing. This could have been a lot better if had genuine philanthropic tendencies rather than appearing bad for the sake of being bad.
I might have liked this a little more if I didn’t read it on audio. The narrator wasn’t a great choice either. Some of the characters sounded whiny, and I didn’t enjoy listening to them speak.
There were a lot of characters used mostly has plot devices and had no real value in my opinion. The MC is self-righteous, exercises almost no strategic planning, and believes in her divine right to rule. Overall, I found her horribly unlikeable.
The main antagonist also has the same savior complex as the mc, but his motivations are unconvincing. This could have been a lot better if had genuine philanthropic tendencies rather than appearing bad for the sake of being bad.
I might have liked this a little more if I didn’t read it on audio. The narrator wasn’t a great choice either. Some of the characters sounded whiny, and I didn’t enjoy listening to them speak.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
goastfarmer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a good, easy read. There's nothing too complicated about the plot or characters. The world involves several different types of magic all with varying levels of skill that any one character can wield, however the magic is not hard to understand especially for anyone used to multiple-magic systems. The book constantly keeps the story going, and you are constantly intrigued as to how the history/political conflict of the world will reveal itself because you know it is there but you don't know the specifics. I wish there was more character development and more flaws/obstacles for the characters to overcome. However if you look for a quick read about a runaway princess, curious magic, and a pirate ship, then this is certainly the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Sexual content
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