Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Bloed en beenderen

This was a fun read with an engaging premise...but it wasn't as good as the hype led me to believe.

One issue I had is the pacing of the book - the characters visit multiple locations and little effort is made to create a transition from one to the next. A chapter will end with them in place A, and the next chapter will start with them in place B, with a single sentence further down the page indicating how much time has passed. This is a particular issue because there is a clear countdown/timer to the quest, and the lack of transition and sense of time passing leeches some of the tension from the narrative.

The characters were interesting, but the prince

waffles back and forth between the good guy and the bad guy

and it just gets old by the end.

All of that said, it really was a fun read, and I enjoyed the lore & magic that we see. I will be reading the sequel.

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mlphipps1991's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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mirireads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The rating of this book wasn't easy because there was a lot to like about it: the main plot, world building, magic system, most of the main characters and fast paced storytelling. Therefore, I'd have loved to rate it higher but there's a big but:
The main romantic subplot was not for me. I absolutely despised the pairing. I dreaded that it would be "a thing" from the hints that were given quite early on and for a significant chunk of the second half of the book the subplot seemed to be the main focus of the book. Everything else apparently lost its urgency for a bit and them being pretty obsessed with each other made me consider dnfing the book.

Inan was also a whole problem by himself. I got strong Zuko vibes from him but never felt that his character earned that comparison. He's a weak and whiney person with no concept of taking responsibility for his own actions or those of the people under his command. Nothing is ever his fault and every hint of am independent thought is squished by his daddy issues.
Reading the 100ish pages about the valley with the divîners camp was infuriating.

More often then not, Tzain seemed to be the only sane person in the whole story. He definitely deserves better!

All in all, if you can get behind the romantic subplot, you're in for a treat and will probably love this book. If you can't get behind the romantic subplot, you'll probably suffer through those parts as well or just give up.

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bandysbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

This was a wonderful start to what I believe will be a trilogy. I love the depth in which this book explored the Yoruba language and religion and how a fictional world was created around it. The characters are complex and deep and their motivations make sense. I look forward to the next installment!

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