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missgarceau's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I just really didn’t have a particularly fun time reading this tbh.
Had I checked content, I would have skipped it entirely.
Definitely do not recommend going in blind.
I did well with the prose, and overall plot and character development.
It’s only book 1- so there’s plenty left to be developed. That’s a given.
Like all big epics- I was mentally prepared for the information overwhelm. The amount of characters could give Wheel of Time a run for its money.
I was disappointed in the strategies and political plots. Felt very “made for TV” and typically why I avoid political plots, in general.
A part of me felt like this was the typical “dude fantasy” that I avoid at all costs. I’m not entirely sure that’s inaccurate.
But, I still binged the shit out of it- and immediately dove into the second book. Guess that means I didn’t complete hate it. It’s complicated.
Commentary re CW: The animal brutality was just sooooo unnecessary and I’m pretty sure NO ONE WANTS THAT!!! It was… a LOT! And the sound effects were just insult to injury. I wanted to DNF and chuck the entire thing sooooo many times. But people I trust have convinced me to carry on.
Had I checked content, I would have skipped it entirely.
Definitely do not recommend going in blind.
I did well with the prose, and overall plot and character development.
It’s only book 1- so there’s plenty left to be developed. That’s a given.
Like all big epics- I was mentally prepared for the information overwhelm. The amount of characters could give Wheel of Time a run for its money.
I was disappointed in the strategies and political plots. Felt very “made for TV” and typically why I avoid political plots, in general.
A part of me felt like this was the typical “dude fantasy” that I avoid at all costs. I’m not entirely sure that’s inaccurate.
But, I still binged the shit out of it- and immediately dove into the second book. Guess that means I didn’t complete hate it. It’s complicated.
Commentary re CW:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
roorooreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was an emotional ride. Punches were not pulled and I had a great time meeting and leanring about all the characters. I did have to take notes so i could keep everyone straight at first and it was slow on the beginning but after that, especially at the end, I couldn't put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm
kliberty21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Malice is a slow burn with a BIG pay-off. There is a large cast of characters, but once they are introduced and the web begins to spin, and the wheels start turning, strap yourself in for one incredible ride!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Torture
rase's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Grief
chrisb913's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am incredibly shocked this was a debut novel. The way Gwynne had me gripped to the edge of my seat as I devoured this story. I had heard there was slow pacing and that is factual. But I could not put this book down. The character work for me was phenomenal. The way he incorporated so many povs into this story, yet still was able to seamlessly weave the narrative between them and progress the overarching plot between so many different subplot going on. If this was his first novel, and everything gets better from here? I cannot wait to continue on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Torture
iceberglives's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
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? No
4.25
This book seems like it is setting up for a great epic fantasy series. My only complaint is that the combat is not written as well as some other books/ series. The characters are compelling and after a slow start the book starts picking up steam before a strong finish.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Gore
angemelb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Lots of characters to get your head around from the get go. Coming of age for Corban, young man who is being trained by mystery man. A Prince, Nathair, counsel-Evnis, and others who filed with greed/ambition.... tale of kings being superceded and who shall win in the end? Help from strange places/ people/ creatures.... really enjoyed this first book and ate throug the pages. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, and Blood
grunks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
xta_07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is John Gwynne’s incredibly ambitions debut novel, and Oh Boy, this story was a doozy. The first half of it did feel a bit disjointed as Gwynne sets up everyone on the board. Plus he doesn’t do any hand-holding of any kind. You are dropped into the middle of a world, and you need to pay attention and strap in. Because once he gets going he doesn’t stop!
Bandits and Mythical creatures have started to awaken and harass our characters that live in the Banished lands. Heralding the prophesied god war. Essentially this will be a battle of good vs evil, and the characters we follow are beginning to choose what side they will end up on.
I actually enjoyed most of the beginning chapters in this book, I found Corban’s chapters almost cozy in a weird way. Plus no-one writes a battle scene quite like this author, once the action starts it doesn’t stop. I highly enjoyed this read, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.
Bandits and Mythical creatures have started to awaken and harass our characters that live in the Banished lands. Heralding the prophesied god war. Essentially this will be a battle of good vs evil, and the characters we follow are beginning to choose what side they will end up on.
I actually enjoyed most of the beginning chapters in this book, I found Corban’s chapters almost cozy in a weird way. Plus no-one writes a battle scene quite like this author, once the action starts it doesn’t stop. I highly enjoyed this read, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and War
Minor: Alcoholism
surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped, which is unfortunate considering the majority of people who participated in a FatF read-along with me seem to have loved it. I couldn't connect with the prose and found the whole book a bit too plain and predictable overall. As usual, I will say what I liked first. I liked the action scenes well enough as it was immersive and easy enough to imagine. Bonding with animal companions was pretty wholesome and I love Storm. Regardless of all the cons I will list soon, I enjoyed the overall story for the most part. It's the classic 'good vs evil' with a modern touch and the last quarter, especially the final 10 chapters is excellent, which makes me wanna read the next book soon enough. It's an ambitious attempt and definitely has potential to be something amazing.
As for things I didn't like, sadly there's plenty. The author constantly throws several character and location names at you from the beginning and inserts exposition dumps during conversations, which interfered with my immersion. There were way too many characters ( yes, I know that's normal in epic fantasies ) but none of them had any real depth, and those who did stay within their assigned archetype. They all felt like cardboard cutouts so whenever someone died or some major event happened, it fell flat as they lacked any weight or emotional impact. I know fast pacing can be fun but it felt jarring whenever a timeskip happened, and pacing still felt slow regardless of short chapters, since POVs kept switching one after another, ruining the momentum. Plus, you know there's not enough descriptions when you have no idea how any of the main characters even look ( Unless that's intentional for headcanon purposes). They all kinda sound the same too and I won't be able to tell if you ask me Is it Veradis or Kastell talking? from a dialogue scene without context. I also found the twists and turns highly telegraphed so ultimately, nothing really wowed or left an impression on me until the very end. It felt like the author was trying to make everything sound and feel 'epic', but it just didn't land for me due to the aforementioned issues. I know all of these may sound like minor problems and I would agree, except when combined with me not being able to connect with the writing style, they were detrimental enough to my overall enjoyment. I do get that it's a debut book ( hence it's rough around the edges ) and the remaining books might be better indeed, but I can't say I <b>liked</b> this book at all, so I am going with a 2.
As for things I didn't like, sadly there's plenty. The author constantly throws several character and location names at you from the beginning and inserts exposition dumps during conversations, which interfered with my immersion. There were way too many characters ( yes, I know that's normal in epic fantasies ) but none of them had any real depth, and those who did stay within their assigned archetype. They all felt like cardboard cutouts so whenever someone died or some major event happened, it fell flat as they lacked any weight or emotional impact. I know fast pacing can be fun but it felt jarring whenever a timeskip happened, and pacing still felt slow regardless of short chapters, since POVs kept switching one after another, ruining the momentum. Plus, you know there's not enough descriptions when you have no idea how any of the main characters even look ( Unless that's intentional for headcanon purposes). They all kinda sound the same too and I won't be able to tell if you ask me Is it Veradis or Kastell talking? from a dialogue scene without context. I also found the twists and turns highly telegraphed so ultimately, nothing really wowed or left an impression on me until the very end. It felt like the author was trying to make everything sound and feel 'epic', but it just didn't land for me due to the aforementioned issues. I know all of these may sound like minor problems and I would agree, except when combined with me not being able to connect with the writing style, they were detrimental enough to my overall enjoyment. I do get that it's a debut book ( hence it's rough around the edges ) and the remaining books might be better indeed, but I can't say I <b>liked</b> this book at all, so I am going with a 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Alcoholism and Physical abuse