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just_a_bibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Unlikely allies, Iraya and Jazymne unite against their common enemy in this Jamaican-inspired fantasy. With witches, pirates, magic, and lots and lots of alliances and betrayals, I'd hoped this would be an amazing read, but I just don't think it was for me.
The pacing seemed very off to me. It started off SO slow, and I reeeeeally had to push through it. Although the pacing picked up a bit in the last 30% of the book, it just felt like not enough happened, and it took me at least ridiculously long to read.
I really really wanted to like the characters, but I quite frankly just couldn't distinguish between them. As great as the dual narrative that we got seemed at first, I just didn't think the characters were fleshed out enough for this to be a success. The character development seemed a little off too - the characters either had very minimal development or suddenly appeared to experience this entire personality change overnight. Also, the romance was genuinely so strange. I didn't see the chemistry between the love interests, and it honestly made no sense to me - I don't think it was adding anything to the book either.
I struggled to keep up with understanding the world-building - could just be me, but I found it a little confusing at times and didn't think it was entirely as developed as it could be.
Culturally, this book was wonderful. I loved the Jamaican-inspired fantasy elements, and despite my confusion over the magic system at times, I still thought it was clearly very cleverly written. The diversity and representation incorporated was so refreshing to read, and generally, these aspects were enjoyable.
While this wasn't really for me, I don't doubt that other fantasy fans would devour it. Worth a read if you can get through the first half of the book.
Rating: 2.5 stars
The pacing seemed very off to me. It started off SO slow, and I reeeeeally had to push through it. Although the pacing picked up a bit in the last 30% of the book, it just felt like not enough happened, and it took me at least ridiculously long to read.
I really really wanted to like the characters, but I quite frankly just couldn't distinguish between them. As great as the dual narrative that we got seemed at first, I just didn't think the characters were fleshed out enough for this to be a success. The character development seemed a little off too - the characters either had very minimal development or suddenly appeared to experience this entire personality change overnight. Also, the romance was genuinely so strange. I didn't see the chemistry between the love interests, and it honestly made no sense to me - I don't think it was adding anything to the book either.
I struggled to keep up with understanding the world-building - could just be me, but I found it a little confusing at times and didn't think it was entirely as developed as it could be.
Culturally, this book was wonderful. I loved the Jamaican-inspired fantasy elements, and despite my confusion over the magic system at times, I still thought it was clearly very cleverly written. The diversity and representation incorporated was so refreshing to read, and generally, these aspects were enjoyable.
While this wasn't really for me, I don't doubt that other fantasy fans would devour it. Worth a read if you can get through the first half of the book.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Sexual assault
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.5
I really, really enjoyed this. It was longer than I would've liked, but the writing was good enough that it didn't matter too much. Stoked to read the rest of the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Murder
Minor: Child death
esme_may's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Takes a while to get going but picks up once you get familiar with the world. I was worried that I wouldn't be as into this one as I thought because I'm not that interested in rebellion stories these days, but it wasn't what I was expecting at all. Really excited to see where this series goes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Alcohol
starrysteph's review against another edition
challenging
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
I know they say not to judge a book by its cover .. but WHAT a cover!
This was a complex (& dense) high fantasy read. I would strongly recommend taking it easy and reading small chunks at a time to slowly become immersed and gain a better understanding of the world.
There was a lot of richness here (and I don't think I've read a Jamaican-based fantasy before – so, very cool!), but it was very slow and often overwritten.
Here's what I enjoyed:
This was a complex (& dense) high fantasy read. I would strongly recommend taking it easy and reading small chunks at a time to slowly become immersed and gain a better understanding of the world.
There was a lot of richness here (and I don't think I've read a Jamaican-based fantasy before – so, very cool!), but it was very slow and often overwritten.
Here's what I enjoyed:
• The worldbuilding and lore was new and fresh and rich
• I also really liked the magic system and how the viewpoints of different characters physically changed the way they were able to utilize magic
• Both POVs played with power & victimhood in interesting ways, leading to a unique and complicated setup of good vs. evil and general villainy
• The premise is awesome! Two rival witches ... an examination of revenge and leadership and sacrifice
• I also really liked the magic system and how the viewpoints of different characters physically changed the way they were able to utilize magic
• Both POVs played with power & victimhood in interesting ways, leading to a unique and complicated setup of good vs. evil and general villainy
• The premise is awesome! Two rival witches ... an examination of revenge and leadership and sacrifice
Here's what didn't quite work for me:
• The book needed some editing (it was unnecessarily long & some word choices were peculiar) and the pacing was off; the first 75% was incredibly slow with most action happening offscreen but then everything came together in an overwhelming way
• I'm speaking for myself but I think other readers can probably relate: I desperately needed a glossary for the amount of names/positions and terminology
• While the POVs were theoretically very different, their voices blended together for me and it wasn’t obvious who was speaking - this was especially frustrating because it was told in first person
• The book needed some editing (it was unnecessarily long & some word choices were peculiar) and the pacing was off; the first 75% was incredibly slow with most action happening offscreen but then everything came together in an overwhelming way
• I'm speaking for myself but I think other readers can probably relate: I desperately needed a glossary for the amount of names/positions and terminology
• While the POVs were theoretically very different, their voices blended together for me and it wasn’t obvious who was speaking - this was especially frustrating because it was told in first person
• Some of the plot points converged a little too conveniently at the end
• The introduction to the romance wasn’t strong in my eyes. I’m curious how this will play out in book 2
CW: violence, blood, death, murder, child death, death of parent, war, torture, confinement, body horror, vomit, bullying, sexual assault (mentioned), suicide (mentioned)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Vomit, War, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Rape
ericadawson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.75
It's unfortunate that I didn't begin really enjoying the story until past the halfway mark.
My issues with the book are small but many: a magic system that's complex (good) but poorly explained, with new additions piled on whenever the plot needs it; a political world that is also complex, but which has so many moving parts that it got difficult to keep track of what was happening where and why; a strong voice that occasionally got a bit too thick with prose; and characterization that annoyed me.
Ira annoyed me in the beginning, I'll admit. I just couldn't understand how she'd seriously think her initial plan would work, unless maybe the lack of sunlight got to her. Her complex ancestry made it difficult for me to understand her as a character, and I couldn't quite grasp why she didn't want to lead as an empress. Her reasoning boiled down (to me) to "I don't want to be cooped up in a palace" which....why not just say you'd rather be a Warrior leader instead? Beyond that, Delyse was one of my favorites before she started to annoy me, too. Ira's romance with Kirdan was cliche, but I liked the direction it went in.
Jazyme was a more well-rounded character to me, but her wishy-washyness on romance annoyed me, as well. Otherwise, I had no real issues with her character, and I liked how the author was able to describe Ira through Jaz's POV.
Ultimately, I think there were too many moving parts. Witch's council, Nameless, Obeah/Alumbrar, Unlit, Pirates, Jade Guild, Yielding, Aiyca/Zesia/Skylands and probably another region I'm forgetting, etc.
My issues with the book are small but many: a magic system that's complex (good) but poorly explained, with new additions piled on whenever the plot needs it; a political world that is also complex, but which has so many moving parts that it got difficult to keep track of what was happening where and why; a strong voice that occasionally got a bit too thick with prose; and characterization that annoyed me.
Ira annoyed me in the beginning, I'll admit. I just couldn't understand how she'd seriously think her initial plan would work, unless maybe the lack of sunlight got to her. Her complex ancestry made it difficult for me to understand her as a character, and I couldn't quite grasp why she didn't want to lead as an empress. Her reasoning boiled down (to me) to "I don't want to be cooped up in a palace" which....why not just say you'd rather be a Warrior leader instead? Beyond that, Delyse was one of my favorites before she started to annoy me, too. Ira's romance with Kirdan was cliche, but I liked the direction it went in.
Jazyme was a more well-rounded character to me, but her wishy-washyness on romance annoyed me, as well. Otherwise, I had no real issues with her character, and I liked how the author was able to describe Ira through Jaz's POV.
Ultimately, I think there were too many moving parts. Witch's council, Nameless, Obeah/Alumbrar, Unlit, Pirates, Jade Guild, Yielding, Aiyca/Zesia/Skylands and probably another region I'm forgetting, etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, and Cursing
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-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
4.0
This book is thick! A ton of stuff happened in this and there was a ton of world building and character development. I really enjoyed it, but felt a little bit bogged down in the plot at times. I think it is such an interesting world that is built here and I look forward to what happens next in the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Bullying, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Grief, and Xenophobia
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