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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
I have mixed feelings about this book...I didn't really care for the romance but I did really like the adventure/action parts of the story, yet I felt like the world-building was trying to be too mysterious so it ended up just being confusing.
-The romace: this is a sloooooooow burn. Not really a burn at all in this book, you get a slight taste of a romance pretty much at the end. It's an enemies to lovers trope but the banter was just too mean and downright childish at times to me. I couldn't see them as having romantic feelings for each other by the end, just didn't seem like that would happen based on their past interactions. I will say their interactions got more tolerable by the halfway point though.
-The characters: I didn't really like nor feel connected to either of the main characters, especially Kase. He was just too rude, arrogant, and self-centered, and like the author was trying to overplay the idea he's misunderstood. Hallie was more interesting and likeable than Kase but she definitely had her own childish moments. There are some things about her character I'm intrigued by and hope to get answers to in the second book. .
-The action/adventure: it was pretty interesting to me and I enjoyed the quest aspect of it. The action/fight scenes were pretty intense. Be prepared though there is death in this book.
-The World building: I feel like there's good bones here but I needed more. I know the author's intention is to answer (hopefully) everything in book 2 but I think at least a little more concrete info should have been provided. By being too mysterious with the answers, at times it was confusing what was going on. BUT it is an interesting world and I'm curious what those answers are to read book 2.
Content: no sexual content, there is substitute cursing, alcohol and tobacco use (minimal), blood, death, death of a sibling, PTSD
Christian faith rating: 0/3
-The romace: this is a sloooooooow burn. Not really a burn at all in this book, you get a slight taste of a romance pretty much at the end. It's an enemies to lovers trope but the banter was just too mean and downright childish at times to me. I couldn't see them as having romantic feelings for each other by the end, just didn't seem like that would happen based on their past interactions. I will say their interactions got more tolerable by the halfway point though.
-The characters: I didn't really like nor feel connected to either of the main characters, especially Kase. He was just too rude, arrogant, and self-centered, and like the author was trying to overplay the idea he's misunderstood. Hallie was more interesting and likeable than Kase but she definitely had her own childish moments. There are some things about her character I'm intrigued by and hope to get answers to in the second book. .
-The action/adventure: it was pretty interesting to me and I enjoyed the quest aspect of it. The action/fight scenes were pretty intense. Be prepared though there is death in this book.
-The World building: I feel like there's good bones here but I needed more. I know the author's intention is to answer (hopefully) everything in book 2 but I think at least a little more concrete info should have been provided. By being too mysterious with the answers, at times it was confusing what was going on. BUT it is an interesting world and I'm curious what those answers are to read book 2.
Content: no sexual content, there is substitute cursing, alcohol and tobacco use (minimal), blood, death, death of a sibling, PTSD
Christian faith rating: 0/3
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cool steampunk and magic world building with a few remaining questions at the end. Slow burn between the two main characters is nice and sweet. Would play Hallie as a DnD character myself
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Rating: 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 (not because it was mind-blowingly amazing, but rather because there wasn't much wrong with it- i tend to take stars off, rather than work my way up from zero)
The iffy stuff:
>>>Language: Earnest just made up her own swearing system- they say "stars" and "blast" instead, and it does change things, but also there is still a system of cursing, so do with that what you will
>>>Romance (for that one person who loves it when i express my frustration about romance): I was honestly impressed- the romance was minimal, and very...non-touchy, if you will. It was still there, but not really *in your face.*
>>>Violence: Guns (and occasionally swords) were present throughout, but I can only think of two scenes that went into moderate detail describing injuries . The battles are described, run-ins with some unsavoury creatures, but again, nothing graphic.
Things I disliked:
1. Kase indulges WAY too frequently in self-pity. Two characters at different points were describing some tough things they were trying to come to terms with, and in both situations Kase immediately turned inwards and thought something along the lines of "oh but my situation is worse." He was pretty supportive of the other characters in some other scenes, but the self-pity really ticked me off, especially when it was paired with this constant mantra of "I did it, it was me," even in cases where he didn't have *anything* to do with what happened—I think that part's on the author; she seems to have gone a little overboard on that.
2. I feel I didn't totally understand the last chapter-ish of the book. Everything happened so quickly- at one point they were somewhere, and then suddenly they were leaving, and using a mode of travel that hadn't been explained at all. Also, the whole "Gate" and "Essence" thing was incredibly confusing and, again, not properly explained, imo.
I'm not really going to include a section on things I liked—like I said, it wasn't a super great book, but there wasn't much wrong with it either. Maybe lacking a bit of oomph.
The iffy stuff:
>>>Language: Earnest just made up her own swearing system- they say "stars" and "blast" instead, and it does change things, but also there is still a system of cursing, so do with that what you will
>>>Romance (for that one person who loves it when i express my frustration about romance): I was honestly impressed- the romance was minimal, and very...non-touchy, if you will. It was still there, but not really *in your face.*
>>>Violence: Guns (and occasionally swords) were present throughout, but I can only think of two scenes that went into moderate detail describing injuries
Spoiler
(the main character's hand was essentially blown up, and there was a description of how her fingers were hanging by a thread [it later got healed and was apparently whole again], but that was one of the only really graphic scenes)Things I disliked:
1. Kase indulges WAY too frequently in self-pity. Two characters at different points were describing some tough things they were trying to come to terms with, and in both situations Kase immediately turned inwards and thought something along the lines of "oh but my situation is worse." He was pretty supportive of the other characters in some other scenes, but the self-pity really ticked me off, especially when it was paired with this constant mantra of "I did it, it was me," even in cases where he didn't have *anything* to do with what happened—I think that part's on the author; she seems to have gone a little overboard on that.
2. I feel I didn't totally understand the last chapter-ish of the book. Everything happened so quickly- at one point they were somewhere, and then suddenly they were leaving, and using a mode of travel that hadn't been explained at all. Also, the whole "Gate" and "Essence" thing was incredibly confusing and, again, not properly explained, imo.
I'm not really going to include a section on things I liked—like I said, it wasn't a super great book, but there wasn't much wrong with it either. Maybe lacking a bit of oomph.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes